Animesh Kujur takes nasty fall, but India still reach Asian Games relay final

India's mixed 4x100m relay team had a huge scare at the Asian Games on Monday when Animesh Kujur slipped while trying to hand the baton to Harita Bhadra.

For a moment, it looked as though India's race could be over.

Kujur lost his footing in the wet conditions as he approached the final baton exchange and went down heavily.

But Harita remained remarkably calm.

Instead of panicking, she gathered herself, completed the baton exchange and immediately got back into the race.

What followed made the recovery even more impressive.

Harita brought India home in 41.54 seconds, enough to finish second in Heat 2 and qualify for the mixed 4x100m relay final.

China won the heat in 41.52 seconds, meaning India finished just 0.02 seconds behind despite the dramatic fall.

India's quartet consisted of Gurindervir Singh, Abinaya Rajarajan, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra.

The incident also showed just how important baton exchanges are in relay races. One mistake can end a team's hopes within seconds, but Harita's composure ensured Kujur's fall did not turn into disaster.

Kujur is one of India's leading young sprinters and is ranked 48th in the world in the men's 200m. Harita has also been in excellent form, recently clocking 11.22 seconds in the 100m, the second fastest time by an Indian woman.

India may not have had the smoothest final exchange, but somehow they still got the job done.