ASIAN Games: PUNJAB’s Tajinder Pal Singh Toor Clinches Gold In Men’s Shot Put Throw

TAJINDERPAL Singh Toor, 23, from  Punjab’s  Moga  has  won the coved  gold medallion shattering The  Asian  Games record in Men’s shot put to open India’s medal account in athletics in the on- going XXV11 Asiad being hosted by Indonesia . Toor, who was considered the favourite to clinch the gold, sent the iron ball to a national record distance of 20.75m to win his maiden Asian Games medal on the opening day of the athletics competition. He bettered the earlier national record of 20.69m set by Om Prakash Karhana in 2012.  The winning throw came in the fifth attempt though he was leading the field with his first throw of 19.96m. Toor was the favourite to win the gold as he had entered the event as season leader (20.24m). The winning throw came in the fifth attempt though he was leading the field with his first throw of 19.96m.China’s Liu Yang won the silver with season. The previous Games record was 20.57, set by Sultan-Al Hebshi from Saudi Arabia at the 2010 Guangzhou Games. oor, hailing from Punjab’s Moga, was front-runner for the gold in men’s shot put as he had entered the event as best athlete on display this season with a throw of 20.24m, achieved at the Federation Cup in Patiala.

“This medal is my biggest achievement because a lot of sacrifices have been made. For the last two years my father (Karam Singh) has been battling with cancer. My family though never let me get distracted. They allowed me to chase my dream. A lot of sacrifices have been made by my family and friends and all those have paid today,” he said.“My family never pressurised to attend my father in hospital and it was always my friends who took care of all the hospital formalities in my absence. I have not gone home much in this period since I was training in Dharamsala,” the burly athlete, who trains with M. S. Dhillon, said. India’s rising star Hima Das qualified for the 400m final with a new national record as she timed exact 51.00s breaking a 14-year-old record set by Manjit Kaur (51.05s) in Chennai in 2004.Hima ran with Bahrain’s Salwa Naser, who is favourite to win this event and won the Heat 1 with a new Games record. Also qualifying for the 400m final was Nirmala Sheoran, who stood fourth overall with a timing of 54.09s. It was best effort in Heat 3. National champion Dutee Chand, competing in her first big event after winning her gender case at the CAS, qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 100m with a timing of 11.38.Running in lane 4, Dutee edged out Kazakhstan’s Olga Safronov (11.46) and Uzbekistan’s Nigina Sharipova (11.59) to win Heat 2. (Inputs from The Tribune)