With 30 days to go for Tokyo Olympic Games, All India Radio takes a look at face of India’s shot-put for past few years, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, who has only recently qualified for Tokyo at the Indian Grand Prix IV athletics meet in Patiala. Born on November 13, 1994, Tajinderpal hails from Khosa Pando village in Moga district of Punjab.
Teji, as he is popularly known, qualified for the Tokyo Games with a hefty 21.49m effort in the Indian GP 4 athletics meet in Patiala on Monday. He was first into cricket before switching full-time to shot put based on recommendations by his father. The 5 feet 11 inches tall Teji is coached by Mohinder Singh Dhillon. He won the national championship bronze medal in 2015, when he was 21, with an impressive score of 17.78m.
Tajinderpal current world ranking is 28 with a total point tally of 1219. His overall ranking is 689 and he attained the rank of 20 and held it for a period of five weeks. He finished 5th at the World University Games back in 2016 at the age of 22. Teji’s first international medal was at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 where he finished second with a throw of 19.77. He won Gold at the 2018 Asian Games with a total record throw of 20.75m. He won gold medal at the South Asian Games in 2019 and has won several medals at Inter-state and Open India meet.
Asia’s highest-ranked shot putter has been awarded the Arjuna Award in recognition of his achievements. Given that this 26-year-old stands within the top 30 in the world, one can expect him to exceed all expectations at this year’s Olympics and at subsequent World Championships in his career.
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