Bangladesh’s best 400m runner Zahir Rayhan clocked the fastest time in heats to move into the final of the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship in Tehran yesterday.

Zahir clocked 48.84 seconds to finish first among 10 competitors in the heats. He beat competitors from Iran, Tajikistn, Iraq, Lebanon, Uzbekistan. Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Macau for the feat.

Zahir’s timing, however, was a second and a half more than his personal best, which he had set in an event in India in 2019. The 22-year-old athlete will run in the final, which will take place at 9:00pm (Bangladesh time) today. 

T^he Asian indoor record in this event is 45.39 seconds while the world indoor record is 45 seconds. 

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s fastest man Imranur Rahman will compete in the 60m event today, the event where he claimed gold medal last year in Kazakhstan with a timing of 6.59 seconds.

Expected to cruise through the heats, Imranur will take the field in the final around 9:30pm.