Thiruvananthapuram, March 21 Rajesh Ramesh of Tamil Nadu asserted his dominance in the season-opening Indian Open, winning gold in the men's 400m Race A here on Saturday.
Ramesh clocked 45.26 seconds, which was better than his personal best of 45.54 seconds, set in 2024.
After the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ramesh was sidelined due to injuries, but he made a strong comeback last year, clocking 45.75 seconds, a season best.
Manu TS, representing NCOE Trivandrum, finished second in Race A with a time of 45.96 seconds, while Delhi's Amoj Jacob won Race C with a time of 45.99 seconds, finishing overall third in the men's group.
The men's final race was divided into three groups — A, B, and C.
The women's final race was conducted in two categories — A and B.
Vithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu won the women's 400m Race A in 53.31 seconds. Rashdeep Kaur of JSW finished second with 53.62 seconds.
Vijay Kumari GK of Karnataka won Race B, stopping the clock at 53.55 seconds and was declared overall third in the women's 400m race.
Results:
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Men: Rajesh Ramesh (TN) 45.26 sec, Manu TS (NCOE Trivandrum) 45.96 sec, Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 45.99 sec.
U20: 400m: Piyush Raj (Bihar) 47.11 sec, Sahil Malik (Uttarakhand) 47.28 sec, Edvin Mathew (Kerala) 47.65 sec.
U18: 400m: Sayed Sabeer (Karnataka) 47.73 sec, Thanish Vijay Gaddam (Maharashtra) 48.17 sec, Hariharan R (NCOE Trivandrum) 48.31 sec.
Women: 400m Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.31 sec, Rashdeep Kaur (JSW) 53.62 sec, Vijay Kumari GK (Karnataka) 53.55 sec.
U20: 400m: Reshma (Uttar Pradesh) 54.84 sec, Isha Rajesh Jadav (Maharashtra) 55.46 sec, Dharani A (Tamil Nadu) 55.63 sec.
U18: Kashish Bhagat (Maharashtra) 56.46 sec, Nethra M (Tamil Nadu) 59.54 sec, Chaudhary Ashaben (Gujarat) 59.62 sec.