Indian Athletics Series 2026: Animesh Kujur, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Rohit Yadav steal spotlight in Delhi leg

Ace sprinter Animesh Kujur opened his outdoor season in style, clinching a sprint double at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi on Saturday (April 11), while Tajinderpal Singh Toor marked a strong return to form with his best effort in nearly three years. At the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kujur edged a tight men’s 100m final, clocking 10.28 seconds in a photo finish alongside T. Tamilarasu, with Gurindervir Singh finishing third in 10.40. The final verdict favoured Kujur, whose timing of 10.272 seconds narrowly beat Tamilarasu’s 10.280.

"It (the race) got pretty close, but it's okay," Kujur said. “This was the season opener (in outdoors), my first race. And I am happy with the timing… Last year I did 10.5 in the season opener and this year 10.28. It's good.” The 22-year-old’s winning time was just 0.10 seconds shy of his national record set last year in Greece. He later completed a dominant double, taking the 200m title in 20.74 seconds ahead of Vishal TK (21.01) and Dharmveer Choudhary (21.03).

In the field events, Toor, a two-time Asian Games champion, secured the men’s shot put title with a best throw of 21.03m, his first effort beyond 21 metres in nearly three years. Karanveer Singh (19.30m) and Anurag Singh Kaler (18.03m) rounded out the podium. The men’s javelin throw saw Rohit Yadav claim top honours with a throw of 82.17m, narrowly ahead of Sachin Yadav (81.95m), while Yashvir Singh took third with 81.61m. However, Kishore Jena, a silver medallist at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, failed to cross the 80m mark, finishing with a best of 77.79m. His personal best stands at 87.54m, and he last breached 80m at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Hima Das returned to competition after a two-year break but struggled to find rhythm, clocking 25.42 seconds in the 200m and 57.94 seconds in the 400m, well below her personal bests and national-record standards. The New Delhi meet marked the third stop of the 16-event Indian Athletics Series introduced this season by the Athletics Federation of India. The circuit now heads to Ranchi for its next leg on Sunday.

Also Read: Badminton Asia Championships: India's Ayush Shetty grabs silver in maiden appearance

Results:

100m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha) 10.28 secs, Tamil Arasu S (Railway) 10.28 secs, Gurindervir Singh (Reliance) 10.40 secs.
200m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha) 20.74 seconds, Vishal TK (NCOE Trivandrum) 21.01 seconds, Dharamveer Choudhary (Rajasthan) 21.03 secs.
400m: Vishal TK (NCOE Trivandrum) 45.44 secs, Vikrant Panchal (Haryana) 45.88 secs, Dharamveer Choudhary (Rajasthan) 45.93 secs.
U20: 200m: Abhishek Singh (Rajasthan) 21.69 seconds, Jinoy Jayan (NCOE Trivandrum) 21.71 secs, Harsh Sharma (Delhi) 21.81 secs.
U20: 400m: Astik Pradhan (Odisha) 46.61 secs, Jashanpreet Singh (NCOE Patiala) 47.81 secs, Yashwant Singh (Rajasthan) 47.90 secs.
800m: Anu Kumar (Uttarakhand) 1:49.87 secs, Prathamesh Amarish (Maharashtra) 1:49.90 secs, Shakeel (Rajasthan) 1:50.33 secs.
10,000m: Shailesh Kushwaha (Karnataka) 30:01.08 secs, Kartik Karkera (Maharashtra) 30:08.94 secs, Vinod Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 30:09.62 secs.
110mh: Muhammed Lazan (JSW) 14.23 secs, Harmanjeet Singh (Delhi) 14.45 secs, Shubham Rawat (Delhi) 14.56 secs.
U20: 110mh: Kiran K (Kerala) 13.80 secs, Aryan (Haryana) 14.20 secs, Subhash Saini (Rajasthan) 14.34 secs.
Men: 400mh: Santosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu) 51.19 seconds, Subhas Das (JSW) 52.14 seconds, Karana Bag (NCOE Patiala) 52.50 seconds.
Long jump: Mohd Atta Sazid (Haryana) 7.86m, Rajat (Uttar Pradesh) 7.41m, Mandeep Singh (NOCE Patiala) 7.39m.
Discus throw: Abhimanyu (JSW) 56.75m, Kirpal Singh (ONGC) 56.25m, Bharatpreet Singh (Reliance) 54.86m.
Shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 21.03m, Karanveer Singh (NCOE Patiala) 19.30m, Anurag Singh Kaler (Railway) 18.03m.
Javelin throw: Rohit Yadav (Railway) 82.17m, Sachin Yadav (All India Police) 81.95m, Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) 81.61m
Women: 100m: Nithya Gandhe (NCOE Trivandrum) 11.59 secs, Sneha SS (Karnataka) 11.63 secs, Tamanna (Haryana) 11.64 secs
200m: Priyanka Sikarwar (All India Police) 23.91 seconds, Unnathi Bollanda (Karnataka) 24.12 secs, Sonia (JSW) 24.31 secs.
U20: 200m: Bhoomika Nehate (Maharashtra) 24.67 secs, Anshika (Chandigarh) 25.25 secs, Dhesikha V (NCOE Trivandrum) 25.60 secs.
400m: Rashdeep Kaur (Punjab) 53.10 secs, Aishwarya Mishra (Maharashtra) 53.30 secs, Priya (JSW) 54.24 secs.
U20: 400m: Bhumi Singh (Delhi) 57.27 secs, Riya Bisht (Delhi) 57.57 secs, Supreet Kaur (Punjab) 58.12 secs.
800m: Astha Mallick (Delhi) 2:11.79 secs, Preeti Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 2:11.97 secs, Kritika (Haryana) 2:12.69 secs.
10,000m: Babli Verma (Uttar Pradesh) 35:08.20 secs, Ujala (All India Police) 35:09.50 secs, Aarti P (Maharashtra) 35:09.70 secs.
100mh: Anjali C (JSW) 13.58 secs, Pranjali Dilip Patil (JSW) 13.61 secs, Namayi Ruchitha (Anju Booby Sports Academy) 14.00 secs.
400mh: Gudiya (Uttar Pradesh) 59.23 secs, Lovely Rajput (All India Police) 1:01.99 secs, Himanshi (Delhi) 1:02.38 secs.
Discus throw: Seema (NCOE Patiala) 59.55m, Sanya Yadav (Haryana) 52.72m, Bhavana Yadav (Delhi) 51.67m.
Hammer throw: Tanya Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 61.29m, Manpreet Kaur (CISF) 59.50m, Divya Shandilya (Odisha) 55.53m.
Shot put: Shiksha (Reliance) 16.50m, Manpreet Kaur (Haryana) 16.42m, Krishna Jayasankar (Reliance) 16.28m.
Javelin throw: Shilpa Rani (Haryana) 54.29m, Rashmi K (Andhra Pradesh) 54.26m, Jyoti (JSW) 52.49m.
U20: Javelin throw: Poonam (JSW) 49.35m, Bhavya Pilania (JSW) 47.00m, Navneet Kaur (Punjab) 42.87m.
High jump: Pooja (Haryana) 1.90m, Khyati Mathur (Uttar Pradesh) 1.80m, Reet Rathor (Uttar Pradesh) 1.78m.
Triple jump: Niharika Vashisht (Punjab) 13.41m, Nidhi (All India Police) 12.65m, Hema (Haryana) 12.63m.
Long jump: Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 6.24m, Pariksha (Haryana) 6.10m, Mubassina Mohammed (Lakshadweep) 6.05m.