First Indian to reach 110m hurdles final in CWG, suffers injury

National record holder Tejas Shirse became the first Indian to qualify for the men’s 110m hurdles final at the Commonwealth Games but finished last in the medal race after sustaining an injury here. The 24-year-old Shirse finished third in Heat 1 with a time of 13.76 seconds and made it to the final at sixth place overall.

However, in the final later in the evening, an injured Shirse could only manage 15.39 seconds to finish eighth and last on Monday. His national record stands at 13.27 seconds.

“In the warm-up, I suffered a Navicular stress fracture in my left leg. I didn’t want to pull out so I told my physio to tape it,” Shirse told PTI after the race. “I am the first Indian to qualify for the 110m hurdles final in the CWG, so I didn’t want to let the whole nation down (by pulling out),” he added. Shirse said it was too early to comment on his chances at the Asian Games, scheduled for September-October. “This is not a new injury; it had happened earlier also. I will have to get scans first.”

Shirse finished third in Heat 1, which was topped by overall leader Samuel Bennett of England with a timing of 13.20sec.

First three in each heat and the next two fastest advance to the final of the competition. Shirse’s season’s best of 13.27 seconds, which is also the national record, came during the Indian Athletics Series 9 in Ludhiana last month.