RANCHI: Gurindervir Singh ran a sensational race to lower the men's 100m national record time to 10.09 seconds, clocking Asia's second fastest time this season and leaving his arch-rival Animesh Kujur stunned on a historic second day of the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition here on Saturday.
The 100m showdown between Gurindervir and previous national record holder Animesh in this meet, as to who is the fastest Indian athlete, will be remembered for ages in Indian athletics.
Animesh, representing Odisha, had come into the meet as favourite with his national record time of 10.18 seconds set last year.
But on the opening day on Friday, the 25-year-old Gurindervir lowered it to 10.17 seconds in the first semifinal heat.
But just five minutes later, the 22-year-old Animesh ran 10.15 seconds in second semifinal heat to regain his national record in dramatic circumstances.
The men's 100m national record was smashed twice within minutes on Friday.
On Saturday, Punjab athlete Gurindervir, representing Reliance Foundation here, had the last laugh in the final race as he became the first Indian sprinter to run below 10.10 seconds.
In the process, he ran 0.11 seconds faster than Animesh and crossed the finish line at least a couple of feet ahead of his younger rival.
Pranav Gurav, also of Reliance Foundation, was third with a time of 10.29 seconds.
Gurindervir breached the 2026 Commonwealth Games qualifying time of 10.16 seconds set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
His time of 10.09 seconds is the second fastest time by an Asian so far this season, behind 10.08 seconds clocked by 19-year-old Japanese sprinter Fukuto Komuro in May.
