He clinched a historic gold medal for India at the heptathlon event
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Starting next week, the trumpet of the Olympic Games will sound in the city of Tokyo, Japan. India will also participate in this Mahakumbh of sports with full enthusiasm alongside its more than 120 players.
There are 26 athletes in the Indian camp. Track and field games will be played from July 31 to August 9.
There's also Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, the shot put player for the Indian athletics team, who got his ticket to Tokyo at the last minute.
Got the Tokyo ticket at the last minute
Tejinder Pal Singh Toor qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a 21.49-meter throw at the Indian Grand Prix held in Patiala last month. It was necessary to shoot up to 21.10 meters to reach Tokyo.
Not only did Tejinder overcome this hurdle with ease, but he also broke his own ancient and Asian record to everyone's surprise.
Before him, the Asian record was held by Sultan Abdul Majeed Al Hebshi of Saudi Arabia, who held a throw of 21.13 meters in 2009. Before setting the record at Patiala, Tejinder's record was 20.92 meters.
Tejinder Pal Singh Toor had been trying to make a place for himself in the Olympics since the beginning of this year, but he was failing. In March he also participated in the Indian Grand Prix held in Patiala but was unable to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Gold in Asian games
Tejinder Pal Singh's name became known when he won the gold medal in shot put at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games with a throw of 20.75 meters. He achieved this victory with a national record.
Tejinder was also expected to win a medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games but finished eighth in the final with a 19.42-meter throw. The reason for this, Tejinder considers the illness of his father fighting cancer in those days, which had a profound impact on his mind.
Tejinder began to see the face of success from the year 2017. He threw 20.40 meters in the National Meeting of Senior Athletics of the Federation Cup held in Patiala. Despite this, he missed the World Championship as the qualifying standard for him was 20.50 meters.
In the year 2017 itself, Tejinder Pal won the silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships held in Bhubaneswar with a throw of 19.77 meters. There he continued to win the gold medal by a slight margin of 0.03 meters, but in 2019 he won the gold medal at the Asian Championships held in Doha.
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Father dreamed of becoming a shot put player
His coach, Mohinder Singh Dhillon, did the job of turning Tejinder Pal into an expert shot putter.
Tejinder regrets that his father cannot see him when he enters the Olympics for the first time because he is no longer among them.
It was his father Karm Singh who advised him to get into shot put, while Tejinder's first choice was to play cricket and he was also a member of a club in Moga.
Tejinder Pal's own uncle was a shot put player, so Father Karm Singh also wanted him to choose individual play over team play.
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Hand injury and fear of the crown
Tejinder also admits that he has breathed a sigh of relief after getting a ticket to Tokyo.
Regarding going to Tokyo at the last minute, he says that he had a hand injury that made him unable to pitch for two or three months. For this reason, he could not perform better at the Indian Grand Prix and Federation Cup held in March.
He had to put a cast on his hand to recover from the injury. A disappointing performance in two or three competitions began to add to the pressure. Corona's second wave and subsequent blockade did the right thing. Some tournaments were even canceled.
During this, the Athletics Federation of India and SAI assisted him continuously. Tejinder Pal also feared in his mind whether he could go to Tokyo or not because the competition in Iran was postponed.
Apart from this, he also canceled the trip to Kazakhstan in June. Tejinder had even begun to doubt the Indian Grand Prix held in Patiala. He thanked God that everything went well.
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The goal is to throw 22 meters
Tejinder Pal says that he could have been selected for Tokyo based on qualification, but he wanted to qualify individually. If he repeats his current performance in Tokyo, especially with a one-meter throw, he can get a medal too.
Regarding that possibility, Tejinder says there is hope for a medal in the 22-meter throw, but there will be pressure on everyone at the Olympics.
Will you do the 22-meter throw in Tokyo? Tejinder says that in February he was able to do
I do it easily during practice. If there had been competition in those days, I would have done it only then.
Gold at the Asian Games changed lives
Tejinder Pal considers the gold medal received in 2018 at the Asian Games as the turning point of his life. People met him and received financial help from him. He received the Arjuna Prize on the basis of that.
Tejinder attributes his father's illness to his father's illness in those days as the reason for the failure at the Commonwealth Games. He all the time he thought that nothing should happen to his father. Tejinder Pal was heading home with the Asian Games gold medal when his father passed away.
Tejinder says that in those days his family never told everything about the health of his father so that he would quit the practice and come back.
Dard believes that in those days the financial situation of the family was not correct either. Then his coach, Mohinder Singh Dhillon, helped him immensely and encouraged him to keep doing well.
Tejinder Pal says about his possible performance in Tokyo amid the restrictions due to Corona, that reality will only be known by going there. He does not find it easy to play with a mask.
He is practicing in Patiala but is also concerned about the increase in heat. However, he is satisfied with his physical condition.
Regarding the fact that India has not won any athletic medals at the Olympics to date, he says that this time there is the hope of getting a medal. He practices daily for three hours in the morning and three hours at night.
In the shot put competition at the Rio Olympics, Ryan Krueger of America won gold with a 22.52m throw, Joe Kovacs of America won silver with a 21.78m throw, and Toms Walsh of New Zealand he won bronze with a 21.10 m throw.
In such a situation, Tejinder Pal Singh Toor's current performance raises hopes for a medal in Tokyo.
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