Shot Putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor took his first step back into international competition since the Asian Games gold with a 20.13m throw in the first leg of the Indian Grand Prix here on Saturday.
It was not only enough to win gold in the season-opening event but also helped him book a spot in the Asian Championships in April.
In fact, five of his six throws were better than the qualifying mark, set at 19.50m.
Saturday’s performance will also allow him to skip the Federation Cup next month for selection and he will, instead, travel to New Zealand with coach M.S. Dhillon for training later this week.
Along with Asiad 800m champion Manjit Singh, Toor was one of only a handful of prominent names that turned up at the event. Manjit won gold on Saturday in one minute 48.54 seconds, slower than his Jakarta finish but understandable given the absence of any competition since
The results:
Men, 100m: 1. Arokia Rajeev (10.65s); 2. V.K.E. Dasan (10.72); 3. Amiya Mallick (11.09); 400m: 1. Jeevan K.S. (47.15); 2. Sajin V. (47.40); 3. Harsh Kumar (47.54); 800m: 1. Manjit Singh (1.48.54); 2. Mohd. Afsal (1.49.01); 3. Ankit (1.49.57); 400m hurdles: 1. Dharun Ayyasamy (50.05); 2. Jabir M.P. (50.67); 3. Ramachandran M. (51.27); Steeplechase: 1. Avinash Sable (8:41.87); 2. Shankar Lal Swami (8:56.45); 3. Durga Bahadur Budha (9:00.01); High Jump: 1. Sarvesh Anil (2.10m); 2. Chethan B. (2.10); 3. V. Bharthi (NM); Long Jump: 1. Athistam K. (7.32); 2. Wayne Peppin (7.21); 3. Mehakpreet Singh (7.19); Shot Put: 1. Tajinder Pal Singh Toor (20.13); 2. Inderjeet Singh (19.35); 3. Jasdeep Singh (18.59); Javelin: 1. Vipin Kasana (77.87); 2. Abhishek Singh (76.74); 3. Arshdeep Singh (74.05); Discus: 1. S. Mithravarun (53.27); 2. Surjeet Gurra (48.30); 3. Akash Antil (46.40).
Women, 100m: 1. Dutee Chand (11.51); 2. Dhanalakshmi (11.98); 3. Amrit Kaur (12.47); 400m: 1. V.K. Vismaya (53.60); 2. Anjali Devi (54.50); 3. Prachi (54.68); 800m: 1. Jisna Mathew (2:09.17); 2. Priya K. (2:09.76); 3. Archana Adhav (2:10.98); 400m hurdles: 1. Saritaben Gayakwad (59.28); 2. Anu R. (59.54); Steeplechase: 1. Parul Chaudhary (10:45.12); 2. Chinta Yadav (10:46.58); 3. Sudha Singh (10:54.80); Long Jump: 1. Sowmiya M. (5.73); 2. Marena George (5.70); 3. Neena Pinto (NM); Javelin: 1. Annu Rani (57.88); 2. Sharmila Kumari (51.84m), Rupinder Kaur (49.48m); Shot Put: 1. Anamika Das (14.66); 2. Sonal Goyal (14.59); 3. Kachnar Chaudhary (14.45); Discus: 1. Navjeet Kaur (55.73); 2. Nidhi Rani (45.01); 3. Gurveer Kaur (40.14m).