The Indian women's 4x100 metre relay team is aiming to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to Aug 3.
The team, which leaves for the Games Monday, surprised one and all at the 2010 edition here by winning a bronze against all odds. Two members of that team -- H.M. Jyothi and Sarbani Nanda -- incidentally are the oldest and the youngest members of the current team at 26 and 23 years, respectively.
"The ultimate aim is to win a medal at Glasgow but everybody in the team is also aiming to break the national record," Jyothi, who is married to a former sprinter Srinivas, said Saturday.
The current national record in the category stands at 44.43 seconds while the 2010 team clocked 45.23 to notch the bronze.
The team has been pushing the clock to 44.7 during practice at the training camp at NIS Bangalore but sprint coach Dymitry, from Ukraine, has warned the girls of the tough competition.
"The competition in women's 4x100m relay is the toughest. You have Jamaica, England, Nigeria and Australia. Our girls have been training hard for the 45 days they have been together in the camp. It all depends on how the baton is exchanged during the race. One thing I'm sure about is that this is the best relay batch I have seen in the last five years in India," said Dymitry.
The current members in the relay team are - Jyothi (Bangalore), Sarbani (Bhubaneswar), Asha Roy (Kolkata), Sharadha Narayana (Chennai), Merlyn K. Joseph (Kannaur) and V. Shantini (Pallakad). Jyothi and Sharadha will also be participating in the 100 metre individual race.
"There is great understanding between all six of us. We may come from different backgrounds, speak five different languages and have a Ukrainian coach but we understand each other's body language which is the most crucial part during the exchange of the baton," Jyothi said.
Sharadha added: "There is a maximum difference of 2-3 years between the youngest and the oldest in this team. So we blend well and train together for at least six hours a day. We have been focussing a lot on baton-concentration at the camp."
The track and field competitions at CWG get underway from July 27.
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