Tajinderpal Singh Toor

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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

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.