Singapore sprint star Shanti Pereira has advanced to the women’s 100m semifinals at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya after finishing second in her heat with a time of 11.43 seconds.
Pereira, 30, clocked 11.43 seconds in Heat 1 at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Sept. 24, finishing just 0.02 seconds behind China’s Chen Yujie, who won the heat in 11.41 seconds. Bahrain’s Raihanah Garoubah was third in 11.44 seconds.
The Singaporean finished second overall among the 28 athletes in the heats, putting herself firmly into the next round. Her semifinal is scheduled for Sept. 25, with the women’s 100m final later the same evening.
Pereira said she was pleased with how she executed her race and viewed the heat as an important first step in what she expects to be a demanding week of competition.
The performance comes as Pereira returns to the Asian Games carrying significant expectations after her breakthrough campaign in Hangzhou in 2023. There, she won silver in the 100m before making history by taking gold in the 200m, giving Singapore its first Asian Games athletics title in 49 years.
Her form heading into the Aichi-Nagoya Games has also provided encouragement. At the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Pereira recorded a season-best 11.24 seconds in the 100m and reached the semifinals. She later became the first Singaporean to reach an individual Commonwealth Games track final when she competed in the 200m final.
Pereira has also improved her 200m season this year, clocking 22.81 seconds at the Commonwealth Games before lowering that mark to 22.78 seconds at the Oman Athletics Grand Prix.
Her Singapore teammate Elizabeth-Ann Tan also progressed to the Asian Games 100m semifinals after recording 11.79 seconds. Meanwhile, China’s defending champion Ge Manqi failed to advance after pulling up with an injury during her heat.
Pereira’s return to the Asian Games is part of a broader Singapore athletics campaign in Nagoya. The country is fielding athletes across multiple track and field events, with the athletics programme running from Sept. 23 to 29.
The immediate focus is now the semifinal, where Pereira will look to secure a place in the final and continue her bid for another Asian Games medal.
Beyond the 100m, Pereira is also scheduled to compete in the women’s 200m, the event in which she is the defending Asian Games champion. The 200m heats are set for Sept. 26, followed by the semifinals and final on Sept. 27.
For now, her 11.43-second heat run has kept the door open for another major performance on the continental stage.
The bigger question now is whether Pereira can turn her strong start into another Asian Games final—and add another chapter to one of Singapore athletics’ most remarkable recent runs.
