Hima Das wins in the 400m event in Federation Cup

Guwahati: Assam girl Hima Das has won in the 400 m event in the Federation Cup with 52.88 seconds leaving behind M R Poovamma of Karnataka (53.15 seconds) and Sarita Ben of Gujarat (53.23 seconds).

Hima's achievement in the Federation Cup is a classic return to form after a break of six weeks due to her Higher Secondary examination. She came fourth in the first race of the year in the 3rd India Grand Prix held on March 8.

In the Federation Cup held at Patiala, Hima scored 54.45 in the heats and then improved to 53.40 in the semi-final and yet remained in the fourth position when she took the position for the final round.

She blazed the track in the final and targeted her rival M R Poovamma leaving one and half-stride behind.

Hima's next focus is on the Asian Athletics Championship to be held at Doha from April 26.

Hima's coach Galiana, however, hopes that if she keeps her focus on then she would be able to slice away some microseconds from her best and said that Hima would have to work even harder to qualify in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Today's run also qualifies her to take to the Doha Asian Athletic Championship.

Dutee Chand, silver medalist in the 100 m and 200m in the Asian Games will be the star attraction in the same event and will give a tough competition to Hima in the women's 200m.

She holds the current Indian national record in 400 metres with a timing of 50.79 seconds that she clocked at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U-20 Championships.

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