Animesh Kujur breaks CWG 2026 qualification standard, wins 200m silver in Taipei

India’s national record holder Animesh Kujur continued his impressive rise in sprints as he clinched a silver medal in the men’s 200 and breached the 2026 Commonwealth Games qualification standard at the New Taipei City Athletics Open on Sunday.

The 23-year-old clocked 20.47 seconds to finish second behind Thailand’s Puripol Boonson, who won the race in a lifetime best of 20.03 seconds. Chinese Taipei Ge Wuyanming took bronze with a time of 20.65 seconds.

Kujur’s effort was comfortably inside the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark of 20.61 seconds and was his best performance of the season. Although he stayed under his national record of 20.32 seconds, which he ran at the Asian Athletics Championships last year, the time was the fourth fastest of his career.

The Indian sprinter also clocked 20.40s and 20.45s in 2025, underscoring his consistency in the event. The Asian Games silver medalist’s clocking of 20.03 seconds moved him to joint third place in the Asian 200m all-time list.

Kujur’s silver capped a successful outing for the Indian contingent at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet in Chinese Taipei.

India opened its medal tally on Saturday with long jumper Shaila Singh winning gold in the women’s event with a best jump of 6.24m, finishing ahead of Vietnam’s Tran Thi Loan (6.23m) and Australia’s Zoe Chester (6.13m).

The 21-year-old’s season best remains 6.58m, achieved at the Federation Cup last month, while her personal best of 6.76m, achieved in 2023, continues to be India’s under-20 national record. The senior national record of 6.83m belongs to Anju Bobby George.

India’s women’s 4x100m relay team also won gold. The RZ quartet of Sneha, Srabani Nanda, Sudeshna Shivankar and Tamanna clocked 44.07 seconds to equal the event record, finishing ahead of Thailand, who settled for silver in 44.68 seconds.

Tejas Shirse added another medal with a silver in the men’s 110m hurdles. The national record holder clocked 13.58 seconds in the final, missing the gold by just 0.01 seconds. Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yuan-kai won the event in 13.57 seconds, while Malaysia’s Mohamad Armin Zahryl Abdul Latif finished third in 13.87 seconds.

The New Taipei City Athletics Open has been upgraded from a bronze-level competition to a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting for the 2026 season, attracting a stronger field from across Asia and beyond.

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Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

07 Jun 2026 18:57 IST