India’s shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor stamped his authority in the continental circuit by defending his Asian Athletics Championships title before limping out of the competition after his gold-winning second-round throw here on Friday.
The Asian record holder Toor threw the iron ball to a distance of 20.23m in his second throw but limped out after the effort, holding his groin.
Saberi Mehdi (19.98m) of Iran and Ivan Ivanov (19.87m) of Kazakhstan took the silver and bronze respectively.
The 28-year-old Toor became only the third shot putter to defend the Asian Championships title.
Qatari Bilal Saad Mubarak had achieved the feat twice by winning consecutive titles in 1995 and 1998, and again in 2002 and 2003. Mohd Gharib Al Zinkawi of Kuwait had won the title thrice in a row -- 1979, 1981 and 1983.
The extent of Toor’s injury is not yet known but it could be a cause of concern for him as the World Championships (August 17 to 27) begin in Budapest in just over a month.
He had qualified for the World Championships with his new Asian record throw of 21.77m in the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar last month.
Toor had also missed the 2022 World Championships due to a groin strain he had developed just before the event, which also forced him to skip the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Toor had undergone surgery on the left wrist of his throwing arm just after the Tokyo Olympics. He also participated with a bandaged left wrist on Friday.
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