UAE GP: Animesh, Relay Team Break Meet Records

India’s Animesh Kujur and Relay Team Shine at UAE Athletics Grand Prix

NEW DELHI: Indian sprinter Animesh Kujur set a new meet record in the men’s 200m at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix 2025, clocking 20.45 seconds at the Dubai Police Stadium on Friday. This stellar performance comes as part of his outstanding form this season, after recently breaking the national 200m record with a time of 20.40 seconds at the Federation Cup. This victory also contributes valuable points to his tally from the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze level event.

Amlan Borgohain, another Indian sprinter, placed fifth overall in the same race with a time of 21.08 seconds. Together with teammates Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidar, and Amlan Borgohain, Animesh won the men’s 4×100-meter relay later in the competition with an incredible time of 38.76 seconds. This performance set a new meet record, while Oman claimed second place with a time of 39.27 seconds. The same Indian relay quartet had earlier broken the 15-year-old national record with a time of 38.69 seconds at the Indian Open Relay meet in Chandigarh, solidifying their position as a formidable force in the relay event.

Mohammed Afsal also made headlines by setting a new national record in the men’s 800m, finishing with a time of 1:45.61 seconds. This broke the previous record of 1:45.65 seconds, held by Asian Games medallist Jinson Johnson since 2018. Afsal finished second overall in the race, with Kenya’s Nicholas Kiplagat winning the event with a time of 1:45.38 seconds.

In the men’s 100m, India’s national record holder, Gurindervir Singh, clocked 10.41 seconds to finish eighth, while Manikanta Hoblidar followed with a timing of 10.52 seconds to finish 12th. Both sprinters have had a strong domestic season, pushing each other to new limits. Gurindervir recently set the national record of 10.20 seconds at the Indian Grand Prix, surpassing Manikanta’s mark of 10.23 seconds from the previous year. Despite their efforts, they were outpaced by Oman’s Ali Al Balooshi, who won the event with a time of 10.19 seconds, while Sri Lanka’s Chamod Yodhasinghe and Bahrain’s Ali HAjji finished second and third, respectively.

Mohamed Sinan of India finished second in the men’s 400-meter race with a timing of 46.67 seconds, trailing only Suleiman Abdirahman of the United Arab Emirates, who won with a time of 45.66 seconds. Sawant Poorva of India placed third in the women’s triple jump, adding to the country’s medal total at the competition with a jump of 13.09 meters.

With several records broken and numerous personal bests recorded, this tournament in Dubai was a great performance for Indian athletes and showed the increasing depth and strength of Indian athletics on the global scene.