(From left) The Singapore’s women’s 4x100m relay team consists of Shanti Pereira, Laavinia Jaiganth, Elizabeth-Ann Tan and Kerstin Ong.ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

SINGAPORE – Looking up at the National Stadium’s jumbotron, Singapore’s sprint queen Shanti Pereira squinted her eyes in disbelief at the end of the women’s 4x100m relay at the Singapore Open Track and Field Championships on April 25.

Her eyes were not playing tricks on her – she and her teammates had equalled the national record and qualified for the Asian Athletics Championships.

Thailand’s Jirapat Khanonta, Supanich Poolkerd, Sukanda Petraksa and Athicha Phetkun won the race in a championship record 44.51sec, while the Republic’s Kerstin Ong, Elizabeth-Ann Tan, Pereira and Laavinia Jaiganth were second in 44.96, just ahead of Taiwanese quartet Liu Li-lin, Hu Jun-wei, Zheng Xin-ying and Hu Chia-chen (45.06).

Pereira, who had topped the women’s 200m in a championship record 23.11 to add to the 100m crown she won a day earlier, was surprised because she had been training and competing overseas and did not manage to work on baton changeovers with her locally based teammates.

The 28-year-old, who ran the third leg and was part of the team along with Wendy Enn, Dipna Lim-Prasad and Nur Izlyn Zaini who recorded the same timing at the 2017 SEA Games, told The Straits Times: “When I looked at the board and saw we did a 44, I was damn amazed at what we just did.

“I haven’t been around to practise with them, all our changeovers can be improved, so we have so much more room to bring down the time and break the record, not just equal it.”

Ong, who ran the first leg, believed the record was there to be broken in front of a vociferous, predominantly teenage crowd who were also there for the final day of the National School Games (NSG) track and field championships, while Jaiganth, who was third in the women’s 200m in 24.59, said the formidable opponents pushed her hard in the anchor leg.

Tan, who finished second in the women’s 200m in 24.01, added: “Our coach gave us the steppings, and we believed in ourselves.

“We had races earlier, but we knew we had it in us to break the national record, and it is just a matter of time.

I’m glad we managed to equal the record in front of the home crowd.”

Pereira will now set her sights on two more events in Japan before her title defence in the sprint double at the May 27-31 Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea.

After struggling with confidence issues following a leg injury in 2024, she feels she is now getting back in the groove.

She said: “It was a big confidence hit I suffered last year. Coming back from injury to regain that momentum and start running fast again is always tough.

“Breaking that mental barrier – the fear before the start line and the fear of not being able to do well – was one of the biggest things for me.

“I was wrestling with that the whole of last year and the start of this year, and finally I have managed to get into a mindset of being happy to be here healthy and excited to run.”

While the ladies were happy with their relay performance, Singapore’s Daryl Tan, Tate Tan, Xander Ho and Marc Louis were left disappointed after missing out on the men’s 4x100m gold.

They lost in a photo finish to Thailand’s Natawat Iamudom, Soraoat Dapbang, Chayut Khongprasit and Thawatchai Himaiad.

Both teams posted 39.68 and sportingly took photos together before the official result was out.

After a lengthy review, the Thais were deemed to have touched home in 39.679, just a millisecond ahead of the hosts.

Louis, who won the men’s 100m on April 24 and was the anchor for the relay, said: “We knew it was going to be a tough fight and I did my best to chase my opponent.

“We can’t win every photo finish… this is our first race of the season and there are things to improve on, so we have to focus on future races to keep getting better.”