Tajinderpal Singh Toor settles for silver in men’s shot put

Two-time defending champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor settled for silver in the men’s shot put at the Asian Games after Iran’s Mohammadreza Tayebi set a Games record with 20.81m. Toor’s best effort of 20.64m was not enough to retain his title

Nagoya: Two-time defending champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s bid for a third successive Asian Games gold medal ended in silver as Iran’s Mohammadreza Tayebi set a Games record in the men’s shot put final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Saturday.

Toor, who won gold at the 2018 Jakarta and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, began strongly with a throw of 20.06m and followed it up with 20.26m in his second attempt to remain in medal contention.

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The Indian then struggled to find his best rhythm, recording 19.77m in his third attempt and 19.71m in the fourth. He responded with a much-improved 20.64m on his fifth throw, but it was not enough to reclaim the top position.

Toor’s sixth and final attempt was marked as a foul, leaving him with 20.64m as his best effort of the competition.

Tayebi, meanwhile, produced the decisive throw of 20.81m to win gold and better Toor’s previous Asian Games record of 20.75m, which the Indian had set while winning the title in Jakarta in 2018.

The silver ensured that Toor continued his impressive record of winning a medal at every Asian Games he has competed in.

The 31-year-old had successfully defended his title at Hangzhou with a best throw of 20.36m and came into the competition as the Indian national record holder with a personal best of 21.77m, achieved in Bhubaneswar in June 2023.

Toor’s latest podium finish also comes after a difficult Commonwealth Games 2026 outing, where he finished fifth in the men’s shot put.

He opened that competition with 20.06m, followed by 19.98m before producing his best throw of 20.27m in the third round. Toor then recorded 19.93m, 20.26m and 19.79m in his final three attempts but failed to reach the podium and ended the multi-national competition without a medal.