RANCHI: For long, Tajinderpal Singh Toor dominated the men's shot put in India, making two Olympic appearances and winning two Asian Games gold medals. However, Samardeep Singh Gill has been getting the better of him of late, and on Monday, the 24-year-old from Madhya Pradesh edged Toor on the final day of the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition here.
Gill produced his best effort of 20.36m in the fourth attempt, and also registered two more 20m-plus throws — 20.22m and 20.03m — in his fifth and sixth attempts to finish on a high. But what made him happiest was Toor congratulating him more than once. Toor had begun well with a throw of 20.07m but could not better it in his next four attempts. Only in his final throw did he breach the 20m mark again, recording 20.06m, to finish second.
Other Highlights of the Day
Triple Jump
Also breaching the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark set by the Athletics Federation of India was Praveen Chithravel in the triple jump with a leap of 17.08m.
Men's 400m Hurdles
Karnataka's Yashas P and NCOE Trivandrum's Santhosh Kumar T also went past the mark in the men's 400m hurdles. Yashas won the gold medal with a time of 49.00 seconds, while Santhosh finished a close second in 49.06 seconds.
Men's 200m Shock
One of the biggest shocks came in the men's 200m, where Animesh Kujur failed to meet the qualifying time of 20.61s as he crossed the finishing line in 20.64 seconds.
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