Star Indian sprinter Hima Das began her Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign on a positive note on Thursday as she qualified for the women’s 200m semifinals. The 22-year-old is one of India’s brightest medal hopes at the mega event and will look to reach the women’s 200m final now, which is slated to take place on Saturday, August 6.

Popularly known as the Dhing Express, Hima Das rose to prominence when she won the gold medal at women’s 400m final at the World U-20 Championships in 2018. The victory also helped her become the first Indian sprinter to clinch a gold medal at an international track event.

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Watch her CWG 2022 semifinal qualifying sprint here:

However, since then, she has switched to 200m from 400m, and it is also the event she will be participating at the Commonwealth Games 2022. She finished in first place in the women’s 200m first round heat, with a time of 23:42 seconds, followed by Zambia’s Rhoda Njobvu (23:85) and Uganda’s Jacent Nyamahunge (24:07) in the second and third positions respectively.

Former Union Sports Minister and current Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju, congratulated Hima Das on qualifying for the women’s 200m sprint semifinals on Thursday.

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Hima’s personal best time in women’s 200m sprint is 22:88 seconds, which she achieved in 2021. The current record at the Commonwealth Games in women’s 200m sprint is 22:09 seconds, set by Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the 2018 edition in Gold Coast, Australia.

While it would be a big ask for Hima to match that record, the sprinter’s focus will be to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 and better her performance from the previous edition.

The existing national record in women’s 200m sprint is 22:82 seconds, which was set by Saraswati Saha in 2002 at the National Circuit Meet in Ludhiana.