Tajinder Toor becomes 3rd shot putter of all time to defend Asian Championship title

Tajinder Toor stamped his authority in the Asian circuit by defending his shot put title on the third day of the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok on Friday. However, he walked away with an injury before the end of his event, the extent of which is unknown so far.

Steeplechaser Parul Choudhary also won a gold medal, taking India's tally to five for the current edition, which will go on till Sunday.

Shaili Singh was in the gold medal position for most of the Women's Long Jump final with a 6.54m jump, but eventually had to settle for a silver.

With 5 gold medals, India is currently ranked third behind Japan in the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships medal tally, tussling with China which has the same number of gold medals but more total medals.

Overall, India has so far won five gold, one silver and three bronze medals - Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles gold), Ajay Kumar Saroj (1500m gold), Abdulla Aboobacker (Triple jump gold), Tajinder Toor (Shot put gold), Parul Choudhary (3000m steeplechase gold), Shaili Singh (Long Jump silver), Abhishek Pal (10,000m bronze), Aishwarya Misra (400m bronze), Tejaswin Shankar (Decathlon bronze).

On Friday, Parul reigned supreme in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:38.76.

Toor stamped his authority before limping out of the competition after his gold-winning second-round throw. 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.

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.

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.

Indian Medallists at 2023 Asian Athletics Championships so far:

Day 1

Abhishek Pal (10,000m bronze)

Day 2

Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles gold)

Ajay Kumar Saroj (1500m gold)

Abdulla Aboobacker (Triple jump gold)

Aishwarya Misra (400m bronze)

Tejaswin Shankar (Decathlon bronze).

Day 3

Tajinder Toor (Shot put gold)

Parul Choudhary (3000m steeplechase gold)

Shaili Singh (Long Jump silver)

(With PTI inputs)