Gurindervir seeks to breach ten-second barrier

Kochi: Gurindervir Singh set a national record in the men’s 100m, clocking 10.20 seconds at the Indian Grand Prix-1 in Bengaluru last month. However, he is not content yet. His next target is to achieve a sub-10-second timing at the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Championships, which begins in Kochi on Monday.
In conversation with The TOI, the 24-year-old sprinter from Jalandhar expressed confidence about running under 10.1 seconds in Kochi, while adding that breaking the 10-second barrier is possible if conditions are favourable. “Not only me, but Amlan Borgohain too has a chance of running below 10.2 seconds.

We both have been doing below 10.2 seconds consistently during training. That’s why I’m so confident of repeating the performance in the Federation meet,” said Gurindervir, adding that Karnataka’s Manikanta Hoblidhar would provide strong competition to the two. Notably, the honour of being India’s fastest athlete belonged to Manikanta before Gurindervir broke the 100m record last month.
Gurindervir said that his coach, James Hillier, identified postural adjustments, which he intends to implement following the Federation Cup, and hopes that it will make him a better sprinter. “It’s been only six months since I joined the Reliance Foundation’s management, and the coach said that there was not enough time to make the corrections.
But even with my problems in posture, I was able to break the national record. I think after making the corrections, I will be able to improve my timings even more. That is why I’m confidently saying that within a couple of months, I would break the 10-second barrier,” he said.
Hillier wants competitions for Jyothi before Asian meet
Meanwhile, Hillier, who also trains Indian hurdles star Jyothi Yarrarji, indicated that the athlete’s primary focus is on the Asian Athletics Championship rather than the Federation Cup.
Responding to queries about the relevance of Federation Cup participation for Jyothi, who already secured her Asian meet qualification, Hillier explained their obligation to compete. “We don’t have a choice. AFI tells us to do the Fed Cup and we have to do it. That’s why Jyothi also did the Indian Grand Prix, because that was mandated by AFI,” said Hillier. “We are trying to get her into some competitions in China and Japan, but we don’t know if we will be able to get her in before the Asian Championships,” added Hillier.