In the men’s 400m hurdles, Shejil Verghese (54.48) and Jithin Paul (54.01) also failed to advance. The onus now lies on the 4x400m relay team.

Meanwhile, India’s top middle-distance runner Rajeev Ramesan seems to have got into a not-very-nice habit of missing the Olympic qualification mark by a whisker. The runner, who came desperately close four times in the last five weeks, clocked 1:47.12 to come third in the 800m ‘A’ race at the Sollentuna GP in Sweden on Wednesday. He needed 1:47 to make the cut. Sajeesh Joseph won the men’s 800m ‘B’ race with a time of 1:50.31 seconds.

In the women’s 800m race, India’s Sushma Devi emerged from the shadow of Sinimole Paulose to win silver with a time of 2:03.82. Sinimole had to settle for third place. She clocked 2:04.32.