Tajinderpal Singh Toor improved his meet record by 1cm in winning the men’s Shot Put gold in the second AFI National Throws Competition at the Indian Institute of Sports, Vidyanagar, near here. Looking to go past the 20m mark, he uncorked four puts beyond 19.51m but had to content himself with a best effort of 19.95m.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist, dominated the Shot Put circle, leaving Karanveer Singh to fight a battle to find his rhythm late in the day. Karanveer Singh fouled the first two attempts and got 17.38m with a gingerly effort to earn himself three more tries. With 19.35 and 19.54m efforts in his last two attempts, he won silver from Sahib Singh’s 18.77m.
It was Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s performance and Karanveer Singh’s final two efforts which expectedly lit up the arena with classy performances. Perhaps they were both drawing the benefit of having completed a 1-2 in the Asian Indoor Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, while most of the the other competitors are in training phase ahead of a long season.
In the men’s Discus Throw, Haryana’s Manjeet pipped Praveen Kumar (Rajasthan) to the second place in an inter-Services battle. Manjeet, appearing in an Air Force vest, found the explosive energy at the end of the competition to send the Discus over 51.24m enough to earn him gold. Praveen Kumar, competing in an Army vest, had hurled the Discus to 50.88m on his second try to hold the lead till Manjeet’s final try.
Earlier this morning, Rekha Singh (Uttarakhand) strove hard to push the experienced Manju Bala (Rajasthan), 2014 Asian Games bronze medal winner, to second place in the women’s Hammer Throw. On a day when she had just three valid throws of the five that she attempted, the 25-year-old Rekha Singh managed the day’s only throw beyond 54m to take gold.
Rajasthan’s 21-year-old Yuvraj Jakhar endured the stress of not registering a mark on the last four of his six tries while watching the others trying to dislodge him from the gold medal position. He heaved a sigh of relief when the ball and chain hit turf at 52.32m on the fourth attempt by S Dinesh (Tamil Nadu). Yuvraj Jakhar’s two throws of 52.69m and 52.43m were both good for gold.
The results:
Men
Shot Put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Haryana) 19.95m (New Meet Record. Old: 19.94, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Patiala, 2022); 2. Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.54; 3. Sahib Singh (Delhi) 18.77.
Discus Throw: 1. Manjeet (Haryana) 51.24m; 2. Praveen Kumar (Rajasthan) 50.88; 3. Deepak Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 49.72.
Hammer Throw: 1. Yuvraj Jakhar (Rajasthan) 52.69m; 2. S Dinesh (Tamil Nadu) 52.32; 3. Meraj Ali (Uttar Pradesh) 51.71.
Women
Discus Throw: 1. Kalavathi Basappa (Karnataka) 44.83m; 2. Nandhini Vellaichamy (Tamil Nadu) 43.50; 3. MN Sushma (Karnataka) 42.98.
Hammer Throw: 1. Rekha Singh (Uttarakhand) 54.44m; 2. Manju Bala (Rajasthan) 53.83; 3. Amreen Subramanyam (Karnataka) 46.71.
Note: The results of men’s Javelin Throw, Women’s Shot Put, and Javelin Throw will be updated as soon as the events conclude on Wednesday night.
