Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Samardeep Singh Gill both showed great composure and precision in the men's shot put qualification round at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow with minimal fuss and became the first Indian to qualify for the final. For Toor, a giant in Indian field events, it marks the latest chapter of an inspiring career in which he has never floundered. The national record holder who has a personal best of 21.77m in 2023 and the national record of 21.77m in Group A had just two attempts to get a shot at 20 metres from the start. After 19.93m his first throw hit the iron ball and he managed to throw it 20.14m, the second best distance out of the three.
Toor’s journey to Glasgow Games has been one of persistence. The two-time reigning Asian Games champion missed the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games due to a severe groin injury and has since experienced his first food poisoning episode. But recovering with some strong domestic performances (20.72m throw in Ludhiana) and making some weight loss to sharpen his technique, Toor arrived in Scotland strong and focused. In his second Commonwealth Games, after an eighth place finish in the 2018 Gold Coast edition, the veteran is still a potential medal winner but he will be up against New Zealand's last Olympic champion and current title favourite Tom Walsh, who also won first place in the qualification with a perfect 21.03m throw in the opening session.
But Toor will be joined in the medal round by 25-year-old rising star Samardeep Singh Gill, who has been carving his own path in Indian athletics. Gill was in Group B and gave a quick start with a throw of 19.95m. That was a bit short of the 20m automatic qualification score, but he still took fifth place out of fifteen competitors in both groups. Gill tried again with 19.75m and missed it on the last attempt to make it to the top twelve.
Gill’s progress to the international stage is a testimony to his rapid rise within the domestic circuit. Set a personal and season best of 20.46m, Gill has already won gold at some big national events like the Federation Cup and National Inter-State Championships; he has battled and sometimes defeated veteran elites like Toor, and the fact that he has been able to qualify with a legendary and hungry opponent is an excellent indicator of the depth of Indian shot put. So now that both athletes have made the first run through the prelims, it is all about Thursday’s big matchup where Toor and Gill will be trying to turn their qualification momentum into a place on the podium for India in the Commonwealth.
