India produced one of its best relay performances in recent years by defeating hosts China to win the women's 4x100m relay gold medal at the Asian Relay Championships 2026 in Shaoxing, China.
The Indian quartet of SS Sneha, Sudeshna Shivankar, Tamanna and the experienced anchor Srabani Nanda were able to put up a technically flawless race and finish with a season-best 43.85 seconds to beat the home favourites in a wild final.
China took the silver medal at 44.09 seconds, while Thailand won the bronze at 44.11 seconds and the podium was decided by a single second.
The win was hailed for India's outstanding baton exchanges and it proved that precision and teamwork can make the difference at the highest level. A video of the gold-winning run has since gone viral on social media with fans celebrating India’s memorable victory over the hosts.
India finishes the championship with three medals.
The gold medal ended a successful campaign for the Indian team taking three medals at the championships.
Tamanna and SS Sneha had a particularly impressive performance and achieved two medals each in the competition.
More recently, the duo joined Animesh Kujur and Pranav Gurav to win the bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay with 41.27 seconds.
India’s third medal came in the mixed 4x400m relay in which Theerthesh P. Shetty, MR Poovamma, Barath Sridhar and Neeru Pathak won the silver medal with a time of 3:17.06.
But the longer relay events were tougher for the Indian teams. The women's 4x400m relay team failed to take a podium and came fourth in 3:34.88 while the men's team came fifth in 3:05.33. Vietnam won gold medals in both 4x400m relay events.
Srabani Nanda said: “The goal is the Asian Games.”
With the Asian Games in Japan later this year on the horizon, India’s relay gold has given them a huge boost of confidence.
But Srabani Nanda, who has been representing India on the international stage for more than two decades now, said it was because of hard work and clean sport that India's national team has become so successful.
Nanda also emphasized the importance of competition without performance-enhancing drugs. In PTI, she said, “I am definitely going to say clean and I do have a lot of confidence. And you can concentrate on your competition.”
She added:
“We must change the mindset from ‘we can’t do without drugs’ to ‘we can do without drugs’.”
While it’s difficult to admit the training schedule has tested her mentally and physically, Nanda said the team’s main goal is to win at the Asian Games.
For this season, the main goal is the Asian Games and I am hoping for the best.
As Chandigarh is set to host the 2027 Asian Relay Championships, India's relay team has already made sure the continental title returns home, and so it will carry some momentum into the biggest athletics event of the year.
