Singapore’s Shanti Pereira wins 100m silver at the Asian Athletics Championships

Singapore’s Shanti Pereira (third from left) on her way to winning a silver medal in the women's 100m final at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea on May 28. PHOTO: SINGAPORE ATHLETICS

Melvyn Teoh

UPDATED May 28, 2025, 08:46 PM

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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s sprint queen Shanti Pereira clinched silver in the women’s 100m at the Asian Athletics Championships on May 28.

At the Gumi Civic Stadium in South Korea, the 28-year-old clocked 11.41sec, just 0.04sec behind gold medallist Liang Xiaojing (11.37) of China. Tran Thi Nhi Yen of Vietnam claimed the bronze in 11.54.

Defending champion Pereira was second quickest in qualifying, clocking a season’s best 11.40sec in the heats among a field of 21 sprinters. Liang topped the group in 11.22sec, while Japan’s Aiha Yamagata (11.53sec) was third.

While she missed out on the gold, coach Luis Cunha noted that Pereira performed well.

He said: “Everything we did this season was to prepare for this competition. This is our first major competition, so everything is good. She’s healthy, she’s in shape and she did a good race.

“This time, it was not enough to cross the finish line first, but everything was according to the plan and we cannot ask for more.”

The Asian Athletics Championships have previously been a happy hunting ground for Pereira, who claimed the historic 100m and 200m sprint double at the 2023 edition in Thailand after clocking 11.20sec and 22.70sec respectively. She went on to clinch a gold and silver (200m, 100m) at the Asian Games two months later.

Comparing her race to her gold-medal run two years ago, Cunha added: “The time was different, but the conditions were also different. So second place, behind the Chinese girl that is one of the best athletes in the world, is a very good result.”

This is Pereira’s ninth event in the 2025 season, which began in February when she clocked 11.68sec in the 100m at the International Track Meet in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Next up for the sprinter is her pet event, the 200m, with the heats taking place on May 30.

In other results, Singapore’s Marc Louis did not qualify for the men’s 100m final after finishing joint-13th out of 22 runners in the semi-finals.

He clocked 10.52sec, 0.10sec behind the last qualifiers for the final – China’s Wang Shengjie and Oman’s Malham Al Balushi.

Teammate Ang Chen Xiang missed out on the semi-finals of the men’s 110m hurdles, clocking 13.87sec to finish fifth in his preliminary heat.

The men’s 100m final on May 28 came down to the wire, with Japan’s Hiroki Yanagita clinching gold in a photo finish.

He won in 10.194 sec ahead of Thailand’s Puripol Boonson (10.196), while Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Abkar (10.296) edged out Al Balushi (10.299) for the bronze.

Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.

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