Glasgow [Scotland], July 27 (ANI): Indian athlete Tejas Shirse has qualified for the men’s 110 m hurdles final, getting a third-place finish in his heat during the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow 2026 on Monday.
Shirse, battling it out for a spot in the final in heats one, had to achieve either a top-three finish in his heat or a top-eight finish across both heats to make it to the final. The athlete settled for a third-place finish in his heat, finishing with 13.76 seconds timing, as per ESPN.
Despite a poor start, Tejas was able to make it to the final. The top two spots in his heat were occupied by Samuel Bennett of England (13.20s), Jerome Campbell of Jamaica (13.33s).
Earlier, Indian sprinter Gurindervir Singh, one of the country’s brightest medal prospects in the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, was knocked out in the men’s 100 m event during the heats, ending his medal dream and producing a crushing blow to India’s overall medal prospects.
Before CWG, Gurindervir had produced a massive hype by becoming the first Indian man to clock sub-10.10 seconds in the men’s 100m, storming to victory at the Federation Cup in Ranchi with a sensational national record time of 10.09 seconds in May. The 24-year-old shaved 0.06 seconds off the previous national mark, which had been set just a day earlier in the semifinals by Animesh Kujur. But after all the hype, Gurindervir, who was getting his first taste of the Commonwealth Games, could not live up to the expectations.
In the heats, Gurindervir registered a timing of 10.39s, which was not enough to give him a semi-final spot. Only the top 17 athletes are getting a shot at the semi-finals. After all eleven heats, Gurindervir finished in 28th place out of 73 runners. A timing of 10.24s would have allowed him to reach the semifinals, but it was not meant to be for the rising Indian athlete on his CWG debut, as per ESPN.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Murali Sreeshankar advanced to the final in men’s long jump as well. Sreeshankar, a silver medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, needed just one attempt to qualify for the men’s long jump final. The Indian cleared the automatic qualification mark of 8.00m with a leap of 8.01m in his opening effort, according to ESPN.
Athletes who crossed the 8.00m mark or finished among the top 12 progressed to the final. Sreeshankar’s effort comfortably secured his place as he eyes an upgrade from the silver medal he won in Birmingham four years ago. (ANI)
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