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Tajinderpal Singh Toor
From: Hindol Basu & Pratyush Raj, Moga boy struggled to meet expenses for training, August 26, 2018: The Times of India

Milestones

2006-18

Hindol Basu & Pratyush Raj, Moga boy struggled to meet expenses for training, August 26, 2018: The Times of India

Gives Credit To His Employers Indian Navy For ‘Immense Support’

As soon as he won the shot put gold in Jakarta, Tajinderpal Singh Toor dedicated the medal to his ailing father, Sardar Karam Singh, who is suffering from cancer. His father’s bone cancer is in the fourth stage and has now spread to the brain. He is battling for life at the Command Hospital in Panchkula.

Tuesday’s gold was a son’s gift to his father who had encouraged him to take up shot put. “Like most Indian boys, he (Tajinder) was initially interested in cricket but Sardar ji insisted he should try an individual sport. I was actively involved in shot put. And that’s how it happened to Tajinder,” Gurdev Singh, Tajinder’s uncle, told TOI.

Gurdev is employed with the Punjab Police. Tajinderpal and his family come from Khosa Pando village in Moga district. His father and relatives are all farmers. A humble background and meagre means of income meant Tajinder always had to struggle to support his dream of becoming a professional shot putter.

International quality shoes, food supplements and a professional gym are a must for any shot putter who wants to succeed at the top level.

“The expenses go up manifold as one goes up the ladder,” stressed Mohinder Singh Dhillon, Tajinder’s coach. “You need better food supplements, you need to go to a better gym, need better shoes.”

Before leaving for Jakarta, Tajinder talked about the problems he had to face.

“I took to the sport in 2006. As I started doing well and reached the international level, the expenses went through the roof,” he said. “For example, the shoes are really expensive. The ones that we wear for competitions cost around Rs 10,000, and they don’t last more than two months. There is so much of wear and tear that one needs to change the shoes very often.

“The monthly expenses on equipment, shoes and a professional training centre come to around Rs 50,000. Then a shot putter needs to take extra care of his body, maintain a very strict diet regimen, buy high quality food supplements – all this costs a lot of money,” he added.

Tajinder is an employee of the Indian Navy which has been taking care of his father’s medical expenses.

In 2015, his father was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. But since the cancer was in its initial stage, a surgery was enough and his father recovered. But the next year, his father was diagnosed with bone cancer. Unfortunately, unlike the first time, the cancer was in its fourth stage.

Thankfully for the family, Tajinder got a job with the Indian Navy at that time. “The biggest help for our family has come from the Indian Navy. It has been taking care of all the expenses, which has ensured that Tajinder focuses only on his game and trains peacefully,” reflected Gurdev Singh.

Right now, the son is rushing back to be by his father’s bedside.

As in 2021

Tridib Baparnash, July 17, 2021: The Times of India

Asian Games gold medallist Tajinderpal Singh Toor defines life as a compilation of three ‘D’s: desire, dedication and desperation. The shot putter’s journey from Punjab’s Moga to Tokyo hit numerous roadblocks, including a fractured wrist in October 2020 which nearly jeopardised his chances for the Olympics.

From an aspiring cricketer to taking up shot-put at the insistence of his father Karam Singh, who lost his battle with bone cancer a couple of days after his 2018 Asiad heroics, Toor’s road to Olympics has witnessed many setbacks.

His biggest asset is his temperament to deal with challenges. Chances of boarding the flight seemed gloomy when the athlete, weighing around 140kgs and standing 5’11 tall, fell during a training session at NIS, Patiala, resulting in a nasty fracture of his throwing wrist which kept the iron ball off his hands for six weeks.

“It was difficult, as if the first lockdown wasn’t enough to hamper training schedules, the fracture rubbed salt in my chances. But thanks to my coach Mohinder Singh Dhillon and physio Abhishek Pandey, my training wasn’t interrupted even during those six weeks. The hand was strapped till the elbow area and I could continue with my regular workouts,” Toor told TOI from Patiala.

“During that phase, the desperation to breach 21.10m kept me motivated, and I kept reminding myself that the first milestone was yet to be achieved.”

Cut to 2021, Toor made a slow yet steady comeback with throws of 19.49m (at IGP-2), 20.09m (IGP-3) and at the Federation Cup in March, he could manage 20.58m, falling short of the Tokyo cut. “It was frightening but knew we had another couple of months,” he quipped. Two months later, Toor first ensured his ticket to Tokyo with a new national record throw of 21.49m at the Indian Grand Prix 4 in Patiala, and a week later, registered a throw of 21.10m at the Senior National Athletics Championships at the same venue.

However, during the nationals, Toor appeared in some discomfort, despite his efforts of 20.42, 20.63 and 20.92 besides the 21.10. “After qualifying, the coach decided to improvise on training, as he felt I had reached my peak. So there was a bit of niggle.” The 27-year-old now aims to breach the 22m mark in Tokyo.

“Yes that’s the target. The focus now is on the medal,” he said.

TOOR FACTFILE

Won gold at 2018 Asiad with a 20.75m throw, breaking the Games record.

Threw 21.49m at the fourth Indian GP in June, breaching the coveted 21m mark for the first time in his career.

The throw also rewrote national as well as Asian records.

As in 2021

Tridib.Baparnash, July 17, 2021: The Times of India