Thiruvananthapuram, March 21 (IANS) Tamil Nadu’s 27-year-old international quarter-miler Rajesh Ramesh stamped his authority in the season opener competition in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.

On his way to winning gold in the men’s Race A at the Seventh Indian Open 400m Competition 2026 in Kerala, Ramesh posted a time 45.26 seconds, which was better than his personal best of 45.54 seconds posted in 2024.

Post 2024 Paris Olympic Games Ramesh was sidelined due to nagging injuries but made a good comeback in 2025 to clock 45.75 seconds, a season best.

Manu TS representing NCOE Trivandrum finished second in Race A with a time of 45.96 seconds. Delhi’s international runner Amoj Jacob won Race C with a time of 45.99 seconds and finished overall third in the men’s group.

The men’s final race was divided into three groups—A, B 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 with a time of 53.31 seconds. Rashdeep Kaur representing JSW finished second with a time of 53.62 seconds. Both Vithya and Rashdeep finished first and second, respectively in Group A.

Vijay Kumari GK of Karnataka won Race B with a time of 53.55 seconds and was declared overall third in the women’s 400m race.

Competition was also organised in U20 and U18 groups in both the men's and women’s sections.

Results:

Men: Rajesh Ramesh (Tamil Nadu) 45.26 seconds, Manu TS (NCOE Trivandrum) 45.96 seconds, Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 45.99 seconds.

Men: U20: 400m: Piyush Raj (Bihar) 47.11 seconds, Sahil Malik (Uttarakhand) 47.28 seconds, Edvin Mathew (Kerala) 47.65 seconds.

Men: U18: 400m: Sayed Sabeer (Karnataka) 47.73 seconds, Thanish Vijay Gaddam (Maharashtra) 48.17 seconds, Hariharan R (NCOE Trivandrum) 48.31 seconds.

Women: 400m Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.31 seconds, Rashdeep Kaur (JSW) 53.62 seconds, Vijay Kumari GK (Karnataka) 53.55 seconds.

Women: U20: 400m: Reshma (Uttar Pradesh) 54.84 seconds, Isha Rajesh Jadav (Maharashtra) 55.46 seconds, Dharani A (Tamil Nadu) 55.63 seconds.

Women: U18: Kashish Bhagat (Maharashtra) 56.46 seconds, Nethra M (Tamil Nadu) 59.54 seconds, Chaudhary Ashaben (Gujarat) 59.62 seconds.

--IANS

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