India’s Gurindervir Singh suffered an early exit from the Commonwealth Games 2026 after failing to qualify for the men’s 100m semifinals. The 25-year-old clocked 10.39 seconds in his heat, finishing 28th overall, with only the top 17 athletes progressing to the next round. Arriving in Glasgow with hopes of becoming the first Indian to break the elusive 10-second barrier on the international stage, Gurindervir was unable to produce his best performance when it mattered most.
Promising start but faded in final metres
Competing from lane five in Heat 4, the Punjab sprinter made a promising start and stayed alongside Jamaica’s Rohan Watson through the opening stages. However, he faded over the final 30-35 metres as Watson surged ahead to win the heat in 10.13 seconds. Although Gurindervir finished second in his heat, his time was not enough to secure a semifinal berth. Watson progressed after finishing ninth overall.National record holder unable to repeat best formA total of 17 athletes advanced from the opening round, while seven sprinters had already received automatic byes into the semifinals. Despite benefiting from a legal 1.5 m/s tailwind, Gurindervir could not convert the favourable conditions into a faster time. His 10.39-second effort was well below his personal best and national record of 10.09 seconds, set at the Federation Cup in Ranchi earlier this year, where he became the first Indian to run under 10.10 seconds.
Azamati, Saminu lead qualifiers
Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu emerged as the fastest qualifiers from the heats, clocking 10.00 seconds and 10.01 seconds, respectively, to lead the field into the semifinals.
