Shaili Singh, Tejas Shirse and Women’s Relay Team Shine at New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026

India enjoyed a successful day at the New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026 as long jumper Shaili Singh, national record holder Tejas Shirse and the women’s 4x100m relay team all finished on the podium at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet in Chinese Taipei on Saturday.

Shaili clinched the gold medal in the women’s long jump, Tejas secured silver in the men’s 110m hurdles by the narrowest of margins, while the Indian women’s sprint relay quartet stormed to gold and equalled the championship record.

The performances provided another encouraging sign for Indian athletics with the Asian Games 2026 drawing closer and several athletes looking to fine-tune their form on the international circuit.

The highlight of the day came from Shaili Singh, who won the women’s long jump competition with a best effort of 6.24m. Although it was not her strongest performance of the season, the result was enough to secure top spot in the field and continue her consistent run in 2026. The 21-year-old entered the competition on the back of a silver medal at the Federation Cup earlier this year, where she produced a season-best jump of 6.58m. Her personal best remains 6.76m, achieved in 2023.

Shaili opened with a jump of 6.03m before improving to 6.24m in her second attempt. She followed that with another solid effort of 6.23m in the third round. However, the Indian long jumper could not build further momentum and recorded two consecutive fouls before ending her competition with a final jump of 6.10m. Despite not reaching her season-best mark, Shaili showed enough consistency throughout the competition to secure the gold medal at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event.

For the youngster, the victory represents another valuable international title as she continues her preparations for a busy second half of the season.

National record holder Tejas Shirse produced another impressive performance on the international stage, claiming silver in the men’s 110m hurdles. The race turned into one of the closest contests of the meet, with just one-hundredth of a second separating gold and silver. Tejas crossed the line in 13.58 seconds, narrowly missing out on victory to Chinese Taipei’s rising star Hsieh Yuan-kai, who clocked 13.57 seconds to take the gold medal.

The result continues Tejas’ impressive progression over the last two seasons. The Indian hurdler has established himself as one of Asia’s leading sprint hurdlers and remains one of India's brightest medal hopes heading towards the Asian Games. While missing gold by the smallest possible margin will be disappointing, the timing once again demonstrated his ability to compete consistently at a high level against quality international opposition.

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The race also highlighted the growing depth in Asian hurdling, with the 20-year-old Hsieh producing a breakthrough performance on home soil. For Tejas, the silver medal and strong timing provide another confidence boost ahead of the remainder of the international season.

India’s women’s 4x100m relay team delivered another dominant performance to secure gold and equal the championship record. The quartet of Srabani, Sneha, Sudeshna and Tamanna clocked 44.07 seconds to comfortably finish ahead of the field. Interestingly, it was exactly the same timing that India produced when they won gold at the same competition last year.

The performance once again underlined the consistency of the Indian relay setup, which has emerged as one of the strongest sprint relay teams in Asia.

Srabani provided a solid opening leg before Sneha maintained the momentum on the back straight. Sudeshna then delivered a blistering third leg that put India firmly in control before Tamanna anchored the team home to victory. The 44.07-second effort matched the championship record and ensured India successfully defended the title they won at the meet in 2025.

However, the relay team will know that they are capable of going even faster. Their best performance over the last two years remains the 43.86 seconds they clocked at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2025.

With the Asian Games approaching, India will be targeting more sub-44-second performances as they look to challenge the continent’s leading sprint relay nations.

The performances from Shaili Singh, Tejas Shirse and the women’s relay team represent another productive outing for Indian athletics on the international stage. While Shaili added another gold medal to her growing collection, Tejas continued his rise among Asia’s top hurdlers, and the relay team reinforced its credentials as a genuine medal contender at major championships.

With several Indian athletes competing internationally in the build-up to the Asian Games, results such as these offer valuable ranking points, competitive experience and confidence.

The New Taipei City Athletics Open may only be one stop on the international calendar, but for India’s athletes, it provided another opportunity to showcase their potential against quality opposition and continue building momentum towards the biggest competitions of the season.