As he strides into the competition arena, Tajinderpal Singh Toor appears to be the living embodiment of strength and power. Standing at six-foot-four-inches and weighing 130 kilos, the barrel-chested 28 year old from Patiala, throws a 7.2kg iron ball for a living and is quite good at it. National and Asian record holder with a throw of 21.49m, he’s in fact among the very best in the world.
Toor stands head and shoulders above a field of similarly giant men competing in the men’s shot put at the second Indian Open Throws competition underway at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary, Karnataka. He coasts to win with a new meet record of 19.95m. The next best is nearly half-a-meter behind.
It’s his second gold of the season -- he won gold at the Asian Indoor Championships last month in Kazakhstan. “ Sab rab ki mehrbani (All of this is what God’s blessing),” says Toor of the new mark.
For all his strength though, Toor knows what it is to be completely vulnerable. He is still processing a personal tragedy -- having lost his first unborn child just a few weeks ago.
“It happened just 15 days before the Asian Indoor Championships. It was early in the pregnancy but there were complications. Eventually the doctor recommended we abort the child. It was a very difficult time,“ says Toor who was married last year.
“It was the start of the season but suddenly all my priorities changed. I normally have to train twice a day but before the Asian indoor Championships, I was running around for treatment. I wasn’t thinking about training or technique. Any time my wife felt pain, we would have to rush to the hospital, “ he says.
The personal tragedy, he says, has compounded the already hard return to competition for the Asian Games champion. He had trained for the Tokyo Olympics while still recovering from a fractured throwing hand. The limb ultimately required surgery post the Olympics, which kept him out for nearly half-a-year. As he competed at the 2022 World Championships, he picked up a freak injury while warming up.
“I was making a practise throw when I felt a sharp pain in my groin. It was a grade-1 tear but it could have been worse had I even made another turn,” says Toor who ultimately didn’t make a single throw in the competition and had to miss the Commonwealth Games.
Despite the setbacks - both physical and emotional - Toor is focussed on the 2023 season. “I was very depressed after what happened. I’ve not been able to train the way I would have liked. But it’s still the start of the season. I will get stronger. I still have my goals for this year. I want to set a new record at the national and Asian level. There’s also the World Championships and the Asian Games. The year has been hard but I still have to stay focused,” he says.
Comments
SHARE