Federation Cup 2026 athletics: Gill dethrones Toor & breaches CWG qualification mark

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.But 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 at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Morabadi here.Gill’s best throw of 20.46m not only earned him gold but also helped him breach the qualifying mark for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). It was also the first time in his career that he went past the 20m mark.Besides his best effort in the fourth attempt, Gill 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.However, Toor’s opening effort pushed Gill to raise his level. “He can throw 20m any given day. It’s nothing for him and he can do it even in his sleep. I’ve always asked him to share his secrets, especially how he manages his centre of mass to throw so well,” Gill said.Besides Toor, another major influence on Gill has been New Zealand’s Tom Walsh — a world champion, two-time Olympic bronze medallist and one of the most successful athletes at the World Indoor Championships.“Especially after my surgery, I wanted to try something unconventional. That’s when I adopted the Tom Walsh style, inspired by the New Zealand athlete, and it worked wonders for me,” said Gill, adding, “I would love to meet him someday and tell him how much his influence has meant to me.”Also breaching the CWG qualifying mark set by AFI was Praveen Chithravel in the triple jump with a leap of 17.08m. Karnataka’s Yashas P and NCOE Trivandrum’s Santhosh Kumar T also went past the mark in the men’s 400m hurdles. Yashas won gold with a time of 49.00s, while Santhosh finished a close second in 49.06s.Besides these performances, not many athletes impressed on the last day of the competition. 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 20.64s.In men’s javelin throw, too, none could surpass the qualifying mark of 82.61m. Shivam Lohakare won gold with a best throw of 81.71m, while Yashvir Singh (80.80m) and Rohit Yadav (80.40m) finished second and third, respectively.Results: Men: 200m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha) 20.64s, Jishu Prasad (Kerala) 20.98s, Abhay Singh (Reliance) 21.01s; 5,000m: Shivaji Parashuram (Karnataka) 14:14.43s, Vinod Singh (MP) 14:15.50s, Deepak Bhatt (Uttarakhand) 14:17.72s; 800m: Krishan Kumar (Haryana) 1:47.68s, Prathamesh A (Maharashtra) 1:47.97s, Satyajeet S (Maharashtra) 1:48.40s; 400m hurdles: Yashas P (Karnataka) 49.00s, Santhosh Kumar T (NCOE Trivandrum) 49.06s, Subhas Das (Navy) 50.51s; Javelin throw: Shivam Lohakare (Maharashtra) 81.71m, Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) 80.80m, Rohit Yadav (Railway Sports) 80.40m; Shot put: Samardeep Singh Gill (MP) 20.46m, Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 20.07m, Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.38m; Triple jump: Praveen Chithravel (JSW) 17.08m, Abdulla Aboockar (Air Force)16.63m, Gailey Venister (Tamil Nadu) 16.37m.Women: 200m: Kusum Thakur (HP) 23.94s, Tamana (Haryana) 24.06s, Sudeshna H (Maharashtra) 24.07s; 5,000m: Seema (Reliance) 16:04.83, Ravina Gayakwad (Maharashtra) 16:46.21, Sonam Parmar (IOCL) 16:48.11; 800m: Pooja (JWS) 2:02.42, Huidrom B (IOCL) 2:05.56, Thota Sankeertana (IOCL) 2:05.74; 400m hurdles: Vithya Ramraj (TN) 56.61s, Sinchal Kaveramma T (NCOE Bengaluru) 57.77s, Shravani Sachin (Maharashtra) 59.73s; High jump: Khyati Mathur (UP) 1.82m, Manshi (Railway Sports) 1.80m, Abhinaya S Shetty (JSW) 1.73m; Heptathlon: Anamika KA (Kerala) 5685 points, Pooja (JSW) 5632 points, Khushi (Haryana) 5435 points.