Asian Games Athletics: Tajinderpal Singh Toor wins gold in shot put, defends title

Asian record holder Tajinderpal Singh Toor clinched the gold medal in men's shot put at the Asian Games 2023, on Sunday, in his last throw pipping Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Tolo.

Tajinder became the fourth Indian male shot putter to win two Asian Games gold in shot put after Praduman Singh (1954,1958), Joginder Singh (1966,1970), and Bahadur Singh Chauhan (1978,1982).

Starting with no throw, Tajinder looked a little out of rhythm in his initial throws. He missed the first and the second throw with no mark. In the third throw, Tajinder threw 19.51 to keep himself in the competition as he moved to third place.

After gaining momentum, Tajinder crossed the 20m mark with a throw of 20.06m in his fourth attempt, taking him to the silver medal position.

In the fifth throw, he again recorded no mark.

On the last throw, Tajinder needed to cross the 20.18m mark of Mohammed Tolo, and the Asian champion threw 20.36m in his last throw to snatch the gold from the Saudi thrower.

Tajinder had won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games with a throw of 20.75m. This is the second gold in athletics for India as Avinash Sable created the Asian Games record to win the 3000m steeplechase gold medal.

Another Indian in the mix, Sahib Singh finished eighth with his 18.62m attempt.