Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh shrug off 100m setback, set sights on Asian Games

The country’s top two sprinters, Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh, did not produce impressive finishes in the men’s 100m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet at the Kalinga Stadium, but both sounded confident ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Kujur, whose personal best of 10.14 came this season, clocked 10.32 to finish sixth, close to the 10.30 he timed in Belgium on August 1. Gurindervir, who broke Kujur’s National record with 10.09 at the Federation meet in Ranchi in May, clocked 10.39, identical to his heats mark at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last month, to finish ninth on Saturday (August 22, 2026).

Both had different reasons for the modest show.

“I had a very good start. But I thought I slipped in the first two steps and would fall, so I slowed down and had to pick up again,” said Gurindervir.

Gurindervir said the timing was not bad given the workload. “Our preparation is going well. The main target is the Asian Games. We can’t peak so soon. The training load is a bit high. We ran with that load. I, Animesh and everyone else on Friday (August21) and then ran. When we peak, the time will come down automatically,” he added.

Kujur, the 200m national record holder (20.32s, achieved in May 2025), said, “I stumbled a little at 10-15 metres. My balance was affected. Everyone got ahead of me. It’s okay.”

He said the focus is firmly on the Asian Games. “The Athletics Federation of India is taking us to Japan early so we can acclimatise. We have time between the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games to load more. We will deload a bit — there is a Mondo track, which is a fast track. My main focus is 200m.”

Kujur, who exited in the CWG 200m semifinals with 20.65s, said the Glasgow outing taught him a lesson. “It’s not about who is the fastest. It’s about who is best prepared on that day. I don’t target any medal or time. I just execute my race and the timing comes on its own,” he said.