Asian Athletics Championship: Arshad Nadeem takes javelin gold but Sachin Yadav makes India proud in Neeraj Chopra's absence

 

Pakistan’s Olympic javelin champion Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championship held in South Korea's Gumi on Saturday. The 28-year-old threw the javelin 86.40m to claim the gold, while India’s Sachin Yadav secured the silver with a throw of 85.16m. 

 

Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama took the bronze with a throw of 83.75m. India’s Yashvir Singh also impressed, achieving a personal best of 82.57m to finish fifth. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage finished fourth with a throw of 83.27m.

Who is Sachin Yadav?

Both the Indian stars delivered personal-best efforts in two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra’s absence. Sachin had covered 79.62m to be placed fifth in the heats, while Yashvir qualified for the finals with a throw of 76.67m.

 

Sachin achieved the medal-winning 85.16m throw in his final attempt. The 25-year-old, who comes from a farmer’s family in Khekra village near Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, had a previous best of 84.39m. Earlier this year, he had reportedly set a new meet record with a throw of 84.39 meters, surpassing the previous record of 82.23 meters. He is currently being trained by Naval Singh, who is also the coach of Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist Sumit Antil.

Arshad Nadeem's purple paytch resumes

Meanwhile, Arshad Nadeem was competing for the first time since the Paris Games. It was also the first time in 50 years that a Pakistani athlete won gold at the Asian Athletics Championship. Speaking to the Pakistani media after the successful campaign, Nadeem’s coach Salman Butt told the press that the Olympic record holder would have had an even better performance if there had been one day off after the heats (which was held yesterday).

 

 

 

 

Neeraj Chopra opted out of the Gumi event as he decided to prioritize major international competitions over continental ones. He had not competed in the Asian Athletics Championships since winning gold in the 2017 edition held in Bhubaneswar. He skipped the Asian competition once again as he did not want a packed schedule to cause any fitness concerns. Neeraj achieved a season-best throw of 90.23 meters at the Doha Diamond League on May 16 and competed at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial Athletics Meet in Poland on May 23.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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