Shanti Pereira eager to race, after qualifying for 100m semis at 2026 Asian Games

Singapore’s Shanti Pereira clocked 11.43sec in Heat 1 to finish 0.02sec behind China’s Chen Yujie in the Asian Games women’s 100m heats.

ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Published Sep 24, 2026, 06:36 PM

Updated Sep 25, 2026, 12:46 AM

Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira placed second overall in the Asian Games' women's 100m heats on Sept 24, just 0.02sec behind China's Chen Yujie.

Marc Louis also progressed to the men’s 100m semi-finals after registering a season’s best of 10.33sec to place second in Heat 5.

Thai sprint sensation Puripol Boonson topped the men's 100m heats with a season's best of 9.95sec.

NAGOYA – On her return to the Asian Games, Shanti Pereira cut a picture of calm and cool, carrying herself with the poise of someone ready to embrace the biggest stage again.

More importantly, she looked every bit the athlete who believed she belonged as she kick-started her 2026 Asiad campaign on Sept 24, clocking 11.43 seconds to finish second in Heat 1 and qualify for the next day’s semi-finals.

Overall, the 30-year-old placed second out of 28 athletes in the heats at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, 0.02sec behind China’s Chen Yujie. Bahrain’s Raihanah Garoubah was third with a personal best of 11.44sec.

Three years ago at the continental showpiece in Hangzhou, Pereira made history by winning the 200m gold – Singapore’s first athletics title in 49 years – and the 100m silver.

Now, she is back and brimming with confidence as she looks to build on her achievements.

On the heats, she said: “I think it went pretty good, I executed what I wanted.

“It’s going to be a long week ahead so it’s really just about taking it day by day, so today was to get that semi-final spot.

“Going into tomorrow, it’s exciting and a really good way to kick-start things.”

Fellow Singaporean sprinter Elizabeth-Ann Tan also advanced to the semi-finals, securing her spot with a time of 11.79sec, while China’s defending 100m champion Ge Manqi did not qualify after pulling up with an injury.

As a double medallist from the previous Games, Pereira knows she has a target on her back and has adjusted her preparations accordingly.

She said: “It’s really about finding out what is best for my confidence – finding confidence as best as I could for myself leading up to these Games so I managed to do that. I managed to go and get some good competitions and brought up that confidence.

“After that, it was really just the mental part that I had to work on, which is really just believing and dreaming, just to come here and be able to podium again, and just really focusing on myself and my journey and what I did to get here because that’s what matters.”

The six-gold SEA Games medallist has enjoyed some encouraging performances in 2026.

At the July 23 to Aug 2 Commonwealth Games in Scotland, she recorded season’s bests in the 100m (11.24sec) and 200m (22.81sec), before bettering the latter time a few weeks later with a 22.78sec run at the Oman Athletics Grand Prix.

She also became the first Singaporean athlete to reach a track final at the Commonwealth Games after competing in the 200m final.

Looking to build on that, she said: “I’m quite locked in for the week so I feel coming back and competing here could honestly bring me to tears because it really does mean a lot to me, not just to be back here but to be fighting for medals.

“It means the world. I’ll probably get emotional after the whole thing is done, but I’m just locked in right now, it just means a lot and I can’t wait to continue the rest of the meet.”

There was also cause for celebration in the women’s 10,000m, as Vanessa Lee marked her Asian Games debut with a national record after coming in 10th in 36min 00.95sec, eclipsing her previous time of 36:15.67.

Fellow Singaporean debutante Nicole Low also recorded a personal best of 36:48.31 to finish 12th.

Lee, 28, said: “It’s very surreal to be here... I’m very happy for the both of us, our running journey has always been together and I’m very happy that Nicole is here with me and running the same events.”

Sprinter Marc Louis will also be in action on Sept 25, as he progressed to the men’s 100m semi-finals after registering a season’s best of 10.33sec to place second in Heat 5.

The 24-year-old was 11th overall out of 38 athletes, while Thai sprint sensation Puripol Boonson asserted his dominance, topping the heats with a season’s best of 9.95sec.

“I’m happy I got a season’s best, it gives me confidence for tomorrow,” said Louis, who bowed out in the semi-finals at the previous Games.

“I just need to focus for tomorrow and hopefully get another season’s or personal best and make it to the finals.”

The Republic’s Tia Rozario came in 11th in the women’s triple jump event with a 12.95m effort.

Uzbekistan’s Sharifa Davronova retained her crown with a personal best of 14.35m, ahead of China’s Huang Yingying (14.12m) and Li Yi (13.83m).

China’s Abuduaini Tuergong won the men’s discus event after hurling a distance of 64.26m, while compatriot Wu Nanjun (61.58m) and Iran’s Sadegh Samimishalamzari (60.32m) clinched silver and bronze respectively.

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Kimberly Kwek joined The Straits Times in 2019 as a sports journalist and has since covered a wide array of sports, including golf and sailing.

在亚运会女子100米预赛第一组中，新加坡选手珊蒂·佩雷拉跑出了11.43秒的成绩，仅比中国选手陈宇洁慢了0.02秒。

《海峡时报》照片：张马克

发布于 2026 年 9 月 24 日下午 6:36

更新于2026年9月25日凌晨12:46

9月24日，新加坡短跑女王珊蒂·佩雷拉在亚运会女子100米预赛中获得总成绩第二名，仅比中国选手陈宇洁慢了0.02秒。

马克·路易斯在男子 100 米比赛中也晋级半决赛，他在第五组比赛中以 10.33 秒的赛季最佳成绩获得第二名。

泰国短跑新星普里蓬·汶森以9.95秒的赛季最佳成绩，在男子100米预赛中名列榜首。

名古屋——重返亚运会的珊蒂·佩雷拉展现出沉着冷静的风度，举手投足间都流露出准备再次登上最高舞台的自信。

更重要的是，她在9月24日开启了她的2026年亚运会征程，展现出了十足的运动员风范，以11.43秒的成绩在第一组预赛中获得第二名，并晋级第二天的半决赛。

总的来说，这位30岁的选手在名古屋帕洛玛瑞穗体育场举行的预赛中，在28名运动员中排名第二，仅落后中国选手陈宇杰0.02秒。巴林选手拉伊哈娜·加鲁巴以11.44秒的个人最佳成绩获得第三名。

三年前在杭州举行的洲际大赛上，佩雷拉创造了历史，赢得了200米金牌——这是新加坡49年来的第一个田径冠军——以及100米银牌。

如今，她强势回归，信心满满，希望在已取得的成就基础上再创佳绩。

赛前，她说：“我觉得我发挥得还不错，我做到了我想做的事情。”

“接下来的一周将会很漫长，所以真的只能走一步看一步，今天的目标是拿到半决赛的席位。”

“展望明天，令人兴奋，也是一个很好的开端。”

新加坡短跑运动员陈慧珊也晋级半决赛，以 11.79 秒的成绩锁定了一个席位，而中国卫冕 100 米冠军葛曼琪因伤退赛，未能晋级。

作为上届奥运会的双料奖牌获得者，佩雷拉知道自己已成为众矢之的，并相应地调整了备战计划。

她说：“这其实就是找到最能提升我自信心的方法——在奥运会前尽可能地提升自己的自信心，而我也做到了。我参加了一些不错的比赛，增强了自信心。”

“在那之后，我真正需要努力的就是调整心态，也就是要相信自己，梦想着能够再次站上领奖台，并且真正专注于自己、我的历程以及我为了走到今天所做的一切，因为这才是最重要的。”

这位曾六次获得东南亚运动会金牌的选手在2026年取得了一些令人鼓舞的成绩。

在 7 月 23 日至 8 月 2 日于苏格兰举行的英联邦运动会上，她在 100 米（11.24 秒）和 200 米（22.81 秒）比赛中创造了赛季最佳成绩，几周后在阿曼田径大奖赛上又以 22.78 秒的成绩刷新了 200 米的成绩。

她还参加了200米决赛，成为首位晋级英联邦运动会田径决赛的新加坡运动员。

她希望以此为基础，说道：“我这周的比赛安排得很紧凑，所以我觉得回到这里比赛真的可能会让我热泪盈眶，因为这对我来说意义重大，不仅仅是回到这里，而是为奖牌而战。

“这对我来说意义非凡。等一切结束后我可能会激动得热泪盈眶，但我现在全神贯注，这对我来说意义重大，我迫不及待地想继续参加接下来的比赛。”

女子 10000 米比赛中也有值得庆祝的事情，凡妮莎·李在亚运会首秀中以 36 分 00.95 秒的成绩获得第 10 名，并打破了她之前的 36 分 15.67 秒的全国纪录。

同样是新加坡新人的 Nicole Low 也以 36 分 48.31 秒的个人最佳成绩获得第 12 名。

28岁的李说：“来到这里感觉很不真实……我为我们俩都感到非常高兴，我们的跑步生涯一直相伴左右，我很高兴妮可能和我一起参加同样的比赛。”

短跑运动员马克·路易斯也将于 9 月 25 日出战，他在男子 100 米比赛中以 10.33 秒的赛季最佳成绩获得第五组第二名，晋级半决赛。

这位 24 岁的选手在 38 名运动员中排名第 11 位，而泰国短跑新星普里蓬·汶森则展现了他的统治力，以 9.95 秒的赛季最佳成绩位列预赛榜首。

“我很高兴取得了本赛季的最佳成绩，这让我对明天的比赛充满信心，”路易斯说道，他在上一届奥运会的半决赛中被淘汰。

“我只需要专注于明天的比赛，希望能够再创赛季最佳成绩或个人最佳成绩，并晋级决赛。”

共和国选手蒂亚·罗萨里奥在女子三级跳远比赛中以 12.95 米的成绩获得第 11 名。

乌兹别克斯坦选手莎丽法·达夫罗诺娃以14.35米的个人最佳成绩卫冕冠军，领先于中国选手黄莹莹（14.12米）和李怡（13.83米）。

中国选手阿布杜阿尼·图尔贡以64.26米的成绩获得男子铁饼冠军，他的队友吴南军（61.58米）和伊朗选手萨德格·萨米米沙拉姆扎里（60.32米）分别获得银牌和铜牌。

通过《海峡时报》的每周新闻简报，深入了解新加坡的所有体育赛事和趋势。

金伯利·郭于 2019 年加入《海峡时报》担任体育记者，此后报道了包括高尔夫和帆船在内的各种体育项目。