He is the perfect shot-putter of Asia, however rising up in Khosa Pando village in Punjab’s Moga district, Tajinderpal Singh Toor wished to be a quick bowler.
Toor, the quick bowler, was a ‘terror’ to the youngsters of his age group within the village. No one wished to face him due to his bustling tempo.Toor took up shot put solely after the insistence of his father, late Sardar Karam Singh.“Like most Indian boys, he (Tajinder) was initially interested in cricket. But Sardar ji insisted that he should try an individual sport. Since I was already into shot put, he saw me being actively involved in the sport. And, that’s how shot put happened to him,” Gurdev Singh, Tajinder’s uncle, tells IndiaIn the present day.In from Moga.Cut to the current, Toor, 26, is certainly one of India’s greatest hope for a observe and subject medal. But to complete on the podium, he must breach the 22m mark, a goal set by his coach Mohinder Singh Dhillon, when he received the gold medal on the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.King of setbacks A few days after his heroics on the Jakarta, Toor misplaced his father to bone most cancers. He was admitted on the Command Hospital in Panchkula. Toor acquired the information of his father’s demise when he was in Taxi, heading in direction of Panchkula to shock his father. Toor’s father by no means acquired to carry the gold in his hand, however he did noticed his son making historical past on a TV set in his room whereas mendacity on the mattress.Toor acquired over that tough part and received the gold medal on the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha. He had then devoted the medal to his late father.In 2015, his father was recognized with a type of pores and skin most cancers. But because the most cancers was in its preliminary stage, surgical procedure was sufficient, and his father recovered. But the following yr, his father was recognized with bone most cancers. Unfortunately, in contrast to the primary time, the most cancers was in its fourth stage.In 2020, when the sporting world got here to a halt as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, the dearth of competitors and shadow practising in his room at NIS Patiala lead Toor in direction of despair.“During the lockdown, he went into depression. He started questioning himself,” recollects Mohinder Singh Dhillon, Tajinder’s coach.Once the lockdown was lifted, and gamers had been requested to renew coaching, Toor was hit by one other swing of misfortune. He fell throughout a coaching session and fractured his throwing wrist (left hand) in October 2020 and was not in a position to carry the iron ball for six weeks.“When I left the hospital with hand strapped till the elbow area, I thought my chances of qualifying to the Olympics are over,” mentioned Toor.Road to restoration and the second wave “It was difficult. If the first lockdown wasn’t enough to hamper training schedules, the fracture almost ended my Olympics dream. I am grateful to coach Saab (Mohinder Singh Dhillon) and my physio Abhishek Pandey, who made sure that I was hitting the gym every day, and they keep motivating me during those dark times,” added Toor.Post-injury, Toor made a gradual comeback with throws of 19.49m at Indian Grand Prix-2 (IGP), 20.09m (IGP-3), and 20.58m on the Federation Cup in March. He was getting nearer to the Olympics’ qualification mark of 21.10m earlier than the second Covid-19 wave arrived.“The two months proved to be very useful for me. I saw my videos, analyzed my throws to find out where I was doing wrong. I worked on my technique, and I got the result. I qualified for the Olympics,” mentioned Toor.At the IGP-4 in Patiala, he secured the Olympic quota with a brand new nationwide report throw of 21.49m.Toor was imagined to go to Turkey for the coaching earlier than the Olympics. But he dropped the plan as his coach Tajinder Dhillon was denied the visa as a result of he was contaminated with Covid-19.Life has been merciless to Toor. On his journey to Tokyo, he has knocked down by the circumstances. But he had at all times come again stronger. The cause behind this starvation is a promise he made to his late father that he’ll win an Olympic medal for his nation.“The focus now is on the medal more than anything else,” he signed off.