At the start of the season, Tejas Shirse created what he calls a manifestation board on his iPad, listing everything he wants to achieve on the track this year. Halfway through, the 110m hurdler has ticked off the first item on the wishlist: 13.27 seconds.
Competing in the Indian Athletics Series 9 in Ludhiana on Saturday, Shirse clocked 13.27secs, breaking his own national record (13.41s set in 2024) while winning the event to meet the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) qualification mark for the Commonwealth Games (13.39s).
The Ludhiana event – it ends on Sunday – is the last qualifying event for CWG. Shirse, having missed out in the Federation Cup in Ranchi where he clocked 13.50s to win and at the New Taipei City Athletics Open where he timed 13.58s for a second place, was determined to make it count.
“I was particularly disappointed after Taipei because the track and the conditions were great, but somehow things didn’t click. To cut down 0.31 secs in the space of one week is not easy and I am happy I could do it,” the 24-year-old told HT from Ludhiana.
What went against Shirse in Taipei was a lack of recovery. Since his return from a three-month injury layoff – he had slammed his left ankle in the hurdle in training last December – he feels his body takes longer to recover.
“Somehow, I didn’t take enough time between sessions leading up to Taipei. I was regularly improving my personal best in training and so I kept pushing. By the time I landed in Taipei, I was completely fried,” said Shirse, who hails from Maharashtra and is coached by James Hillier at the Reliance Foundation.
Coming into the Ludhiana event, Shirse had made peace with another possible qualification miss. Despite dominating the domestic meets, Shirse had hardly qualified for a challenging continental or global meet. He had missed the 2023 Asian Championships and Asian Games, 2024 Paris Olympics, and the 2025 World Indoors and Asian Championships. His 2025 World Championships qualification happened at the last moment when he entered in the 40th place – the last available slot – on rankings, after Cyprus’ Milan Trajkovic and Australia’s Tayleb Willis pulled out.
“I thought, ‘what worse can happen than another missed qualification?’ So, I decided to enjoy the race and take it as a free hit. I am glad I qualified on merit,” he said.
“I had manifested this 13.27 secs time because it was the qualifying mark for the Paris Olympics and the 2025 Worlds. Maybe I just needed a validation that I can clock a respectable, world-class time.” While truly elite timings in 110m hurdles are sub-13secs, Shirse’s PB would have won him silver at the last three CWG editions.
“I don’t consciously chase time,” he said. “The idea is to run a technically good race. I want to become a good, wholesome athlete and not someone who can run fast occasionally.” That quest for technical perfection means Shirse and Hillier are constantly looking for areas to improve. Their latest find is “getting my arms to listen to my body,” said Shirse.
“We noticed my arms get a little wayward over the hurdles and that is where I tend to lose speed. Once that is fixed, you’ll see me touching 13 secs or thereabouts,” he said.
Shirse will next be in action at the Inter-State meet in Bhubaneswar, after which a training stint, likely in the Czech Republic, is on the cards leading up to the Glasgow CWG (July 23-Aug 2).
