Triple jumper Arpinder Singh to train under Antony Yaich

One of the finest triple jumpers in the country Arpinder Singh was in some dilemma regarding his training after he failed to get any concrete reply from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) authorities. However, the Asian Games gold medallist will now be training under Antony Yaich at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) in Vijayanagara ahead of the World Athletics Championships which will be held in September.

He had plans of going to the USA and train under American coach Jeremy Fischer which didn’t materialise in the end.

"I wanted them to send me there (USA) for five or six months. Eventually, I went there in the last week of December. My approval was only for two months. That whole group of triple jumpers under Fischer has been working for the World Championships since then. He couldn’t have taken me in the middle of his programme,” Arpinder told Sportstar.

"When I came back to India, I was not ready to compete...I wanted to go back in the end of March itself. But that approval has still not come. There was neither a coach nor a training partner. So it was getting a little difficult. He is a good coach, explains everything. Now even if the approval comes, I would like to train with Yaich.”

With the World Championships approaching next, Arpinder has said that he and the coach are only looking to change the big mistakes in his technique and nothing else. The athlete has also made it clear that he will continue to train under Yaich for the 2020 Olympics as well.

"He understands that there are only a few months left for the World Championships. If you change everything, your performance will be affected. We are changing only the biggest mistakes in my technique. My upper body leans forward a little during my performance, so he is asking me to keep it more stable,” the triple jumper explained.

"He is also making me keep my arm motion straighter rather than moving from the side. That could affect my balance. He has told me to relax my shoulder blades. He has also reduced my run-up by two metres (42m to 40m). He wants me to charge ahead in the first eight to 10 metres. When I run, my back kick was too much. It was not the right running posture. That was also affecting my speed.”