Patiala, June 21: Shot-putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with an Asian and national record throw at the Indian Grand Prix 4 here on a day when the national women’s 4x100m relay team and sprinter Dutee Chand also breached the previous best marks in the country.
The 26-year-old Toor, a 2018 Asian Games gold winner, crossed the Olympic qualification mark of 21.10m with a throw of 21.49m, which was his first attempt, and broke his own national record.
He also came up with big throws of 21.28m, 21.12m, 21.13m in his third, fourth and fifth efforts, all of them crossing the Olympic qualification mark. The previous national record, which was also in Toor’s name, stood at 20.92m and was set in 2019.
The athlete from Punjab also shattered the 12-year-old Asian record of 21.13m which was in the name of Sultan Abdulm Al Hebshi of Saudi Arabia since 2009.
“I am very happy to qualify for my first Olympics. Moreover, it was Asian as well as national record,” Toor told PTI after his event.
The women’s relay team, however, failed to place itself inside the Olympic qualifying bracket despite a record effort of its own. The quartet of Hima Das, Dutee Chand, S Dhanalakshmi and Archana Suseendran clocked 43.37 seconds to win the race ahead of India ‘B’ team (48.02 seconds) and Maldives (50.74) in the three team race.
The Indian team bettered the previous record of 43.42 seconds set in 2016 in Almaty by the quartet of Merlin K Joseph, H M Jyothi, Srabani Nanda and Dutee.
Olympic-bound Kamalpreet Kaur bettered her earlier national record mark in women’s discus throw by hurling the iron disc to a distance of 66.59m. But her performance will not be counted as the new national record as she was the lone competitor in the event.
Sprinter Dutee Chand also shattered a national record in the women’s 100m event. She completed the race in 11.17 seconds, agonisingly close to the Olympic qualification time 11.15s. Despite failing to cross the Olympic qualification mark, Dutee is expected to make the Tokyo Games on the basis of world rankings
Star sprinter Hima Das clinched the 200m top honours with a personal best time of 22.88 seconds. (PTI)
