"One of our goals this year is to successfully defend the Asian Games title" - Tajinderpal Singh Toor's coach Mohinder Singh Dhillon

2018 Asian Games men’s shotput champion, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, has been advised by his coach not to push hard during the preparatory phase of training in March. Their main goal is to peak later this year.

The 27-year-old Toor is amongst the three-member national athletics team that will compete at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, starting Friday in Belgrade.

“We have made marginal changes in the training load to compete in the World Indoors as the main focus is the outdoor season later in the year,” coach Mohinder Singh Dhillon told Sportskeeda on Toor’s future plans.

According to the Dronacharya Awardee, the World Indoors will act as a stepping stone for upcoming international competitions. Their main goal this year is to successfully defend Toor's Asiad gold.

“We have a busy season ahead," he said. "From July to September, there will be three major international competitions, including the Asian Games in China. One of our goals this year is to successfully defend the Asian Games title in September.”

While the Eugene World Athletics Championships will be held from July 15-24, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduled for July 28 to August 8. Dhillon also wants Toor to perform at his optimum level in the above two international meets too.

Post the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games last year, the Indian thrower took a break from athletics due to personal reasons. While Toor had wrist surgery on his throwing arm (left) in September, a month later he got married.

Despite following proper rehabilitation to recover from left wrist surgery, it was a cautious start to 2022.

“We started normal practice in January," Dhillon explained. "Since the main focus is to gradually build up for the challenging season ahead, it is also important not to get injured again. So far there is no pain in the wrist.”

At the national throwing competition held recently in Patiala, Toor’s gold-winning throw was 19.94m. His coach is happy with his gradual progress.

“We are happy that he is close to the 20m mark in March," Dhillon said. "He does get aggressive in practice, but we have to hold him back. We have to constantly advise him to concentrate on the technical aspect at the moment and push hard later during the big events.”