Tejinderpal Bags Gold in Men’s Shot Put, Sets New Asiad Record
Toor set the new Games record in the men’s shot put with a throw of 20.75 during his fifth attempt.
Tejinder Pal Singh Toor bagged India’s first Gold in athletics when he finished first in the men’s shot put final at Jakarta on Saturday.
The previous mark of 20.57m was set by Aboulmajeed Alhabashi of Saudi Arabia at the 2010 Asiad in Guangzhou, China.
China's Liu Yang was a distant second with his season's best throw of 19.52m. Ivan Ivanov of Kazakhstan took bronze with 19.40m.
This is the eighth gold medal for India in men's shot put in the history of the Asian Games.
Toor dominated the final right from the start but reserved his best for the very last attempt. The tall, burly 23-year-old from Punjab had taken the lead with an effort of 19.96 metres in his first attempt. He threw 19.15 in his second attempt but fouled his third throw. The fourth attempt saw the Indian clock yet another 19.96m before he simply blew away the competition with his last attempt.
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China's Liu Yang won silver with season best effort of 19.52, ahead of Kazakshtan's Ivan Ivanov (19.40m).
Tejinder, who left behind an ailing father, who is battling cancer, said all the sacrifices have paid today.
In June 2017, Toor had set his personal record throw of 20.40m at the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships in Patiala, falling short of World Championships qualification standard of 20.50m.
In August 2017, he won the silver medal at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar with a throw of 19.77m, missing out on the gold medal by 0.03m.
At the Commonwealth Games finals earlier this year, Toor finished eighth with a throw of 19.42m.
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