Things are getting better for Tejas Shirse who rewrote his own men’s 110m hurdles national record to win the event at the ninth leg of the Indian Athletics Series 2026, which began at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab, on Saturday.
Tejas Shirse, who also holds the 60m hurdles indoor national record of 7.64s, won the event ahead of Krishik M (13.55s) and Madhvendra Singh (14.00s).
The 24-year-old Indian athlete clocked 13.27 seconds to shave 0.14s off his own previous best and national record time of 13.41, which he had clocked in an athletics’ meet in Finland way back in 2024.
Tejas also breaches CWG qualifying mark
He also breached the Athletics Federation of India’s qualifying standard for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026 in the men’s 110m hurdles event, which is set at 13.39s.
“After missing the CWG qualification line closely in Ranchi and Chinese Taipei despite finishing on the podium, I changed my mindset today. I told myself it’s a free hit,” he said.
“You don’t look for the ‘perfect’ shot; you just hit it out of the park or you get out. I took off without the pressure, treated it like training, and let the legs do the talking,” Shirse added.
Seema (58.16m) and Nidhi Rani (57.08m) finished as the top two in women’s discus throw as both cleared the CWG (56.85m) and Asian Games (55.48m) entry standards in the field event.
The men’s javelin throw event also saw the top two – Rohit Yadav (83.76m) and Yashvir Singh (82.93m) – breach both qualifying marks with new personal bests. The CWG entry standard for the event is 82.61m while the Asian Games mark is 77.87m.
Reigning Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor also threw over the qualifying mark of 20.36m in front of his home crowd, registering 20.72m to win the men’s shot put event ahead of Karanveer Singh and Dhanveer Singh.
Manpreet, Shaili too breach CWG mark
In women’s shot put, Manpreet Kaur (17.66m) also edged the CWG qualifying mark of 17.62m.
Asian Championships silver medallist Shaili Singh won the women’s long jump event but fell short of the qualifying mark.
The meet in Ludhiana, the ninth stop on the 16-leg Indian Athletics Series introduced by the AFI for the 2026 season, was originally meant to be a one-day affair.
However, it has now been extended to Sunday with the hammer throw events having been postponed by a day.
The AFI has designated the Indian Athletics Series 9 in Ludhiana as a second selection trial for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
The Federation Cup back in May was originally scheduled to be the final CWG selection trial but the AFI decided to grant Indian track and field athletes a second shot at making the squad for Glasgow 2026.
Final selection to the team, however, will be at the AFI’s discretion irrespective of athletes clearing the entry standards.
The 10th Indian Athletics Series 2026 is also scheduled to be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Results: Men’s race walk (CWG qualification – 39:06.28): 1. Nitin Gupta (39:57.74); 2. Gaurav Kumar (43:43.48); 3. Ritik Kumar (45:06.07)
Men’s 800m (CWG qualification – 1:45.00): 1. Mohammed Afsal P (1:47.00); 2. Salman Farookh (1:48.23); 3. Shiva Tomar (1:51.94)
Women’s 800m (CWG qualification – 1:57.88): 1. Harmilan Bains (2:16.88); 2. Shivani Hudda (2:17.65); 3. Amandeep Kaur (2:18.54)
Women’s high jump (CWG qualification – 1.92m): 1. Rekha (1.68m); 2. Jonika Pahal (1.65m); 3. Rimpal Kaur (1.65m) / Rajeswari Das (1.65m)
Men’s 200m (CWG qualification – 20.61s): 1. Abhay Singh (20.82s); 2. Jishnu Prasad P K (20.91s); 3. Ajay Khade (21.50s)
Women’s discus throw (CWG qualification – 56.85m): 1. Seema (58.16m); 2. Nidhi Rani (57.08m); 3. Sanya Yadav (55.47m)
Women’s shot put (CWG qualification – 17.62m): 1. Manpreet Kaur (17.66m); 2. Srishti Vig (16.82m); 3. Vidhi (16.23m)
Women’s 200m (CWG qualification – 23.06s): 1. Unnathi Bollanda (23.66s); 2. Jilna M V (23.76s); 3. Sakshi Champalal Cha (24.37s)
Men’s 110m hurdles (CWG qualification – 13.39s): 1. Tejas Shirse (13.27s); 2. Krishik M (13.55s); 3. Madhvendra Singh Sh (14.00s)
Women’s 100m hurdles (CWG qualification – 12.67s): 1. Pragyan Prasanti Sah (13.35s); 2. Gurdeep Kaur (14.42s); 3. Ritwika Singh (14.69s)
Women’s 100m (CWG qualification – 11.17s): 1. Jilna M V (11.68s); 2. Sakshi Champalal Cha (11.97s); 3. Kanishka Manchanda (12.01s)
Men’s 100m (CWG qualification – 10.16s): 1. Harjit Singh (10.33s); 2. Abhay Singh (10.45s); 3. Saurabh Rajesh Naitale (10.47s)
Men’s high jump (CWG qualification – 2.22m): 1. Ram Naresh (2.00m); 1. Robanpreet Singh (2.00m); 1. Adarshpreet Singh (2.00m)
Women’s 400m (CWG qualification – 51.36s): 1. Kiran Pahal (52.89s); 2. Manisha (54.23s); 3. Geeta (55.00s)
Men’s 400m (CWG qualification – 44.96s): 1. Vikrant Panchal (46.09s); 2. Ritik Chaudhary (47.51s); 3. Jashanpreet Singh (47.55s)
Men’s javelin throw (CWG qualification – 82.61m): 1. Rohit Yadav (83.76m); 2. Yashvir Singh (82.93m); 3. Shivam Lohakare (80.52m)
Men’s 3000m steeplechase (CWG qualification – 8:30.26): 1. Balkishan (8:49.36); 2. Shubham Shridhar Bha (9:03.73); 3. Prince Raj Mishra (9:06.28)
Men’s triple jump (CWG qualification – 16.89m): 1. Karthik U (16.52m); 2. Abdulla Aboobacker (16.50m); 3. Ashok Kumar (14.54m)
Women’s long jump (CWG qualification – 6.84m): 1. Shaili Singh (6.42m); 2. Ankita Chaudhary (5.54m); 3. Mumal Devra (5.47m)
Women’s 3000m steeplechase (CWG qualification – 9:27.41): 1. Saloni (11:06.00); 2. Shreya (11:38.03); 3. Shaili Dhama (11:38.19)
Women’s javelin throw (CWG qualification – 59.79m): 1. Shilpa Rani (55.62m); 2. Sanjana Choudhary (55.22m); 3. Deepika (54.65m)
Women’s 1500m (CWG qualification – 4:05.09): 1. Lili Das (4:20.77); 2. Pragati (4:31.35); 3. Anjali (4:42.85)
Men’s 1500m (CWG qualification – 3:30.82): 1. Navdeep (3:52.09); 2. Ajay (3:52.22); 3. Islamuddin (3:52.56)
Men’s shot put (CWG qualification – 20.36m): 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (20.72m); 2. Karanveer Singh (19.73m); 3. Dhanveer Singh (18.60m).
Pic credit: Reliance Foundation
