Jakarta: With his father battling cancer, Tajinderpal Singh wanted to quit his sport and take care of him. But his personal coach MS Dhillon changed his mind. And the nation has won a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia.

Tajinderpal won shot put gold on Saturday in Jakarta with an Asian Games record throw of 20.75 metres.

After winning the gold, he had said, “This medal is my biggest achievement because a lot of sacrifices have been made. For the last two years, my father (Karam Singh) has been battling cancer.”

Now, Tajinderpal’s coach has revealed how he ensured that his ward focused on training after wanting to give up due to his father’s health.

"Prior to the Commonwealth Games, his father was serious but after he came back, he was more serious. His father was referred to Army Hospital in Delhi for chemotherapy. He was there for 10-15 days,” Dhillon said.

"On the second day, I called him and asked if he was training. He said: ‘I don't feel like practising and I am not getting time. I am losing my rhythm. I can't do it now. I want to quit,” the coach added.

Then, Dhillon reminded the 23-year-old that government was spending a lot and there were expectations from him.

"I told him, 'No, you can't quit like this. The government is spending a lot of money on you and there are a lot of expectations from you'. I told him 'you are not required there at the hospital. The doctors are doing their job. We started training but it was light training but he was not into it mentally. Then we went to Patiala and trained for one week," he recalled.