Asian Athletics: India’s Sachin Yadav wins javelin silver; Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem bags gold

Competing in his maiden major international meet, Sachin narrowly missed the World Championships qualification mark of 85.50m, and blamed his twin injuries — to the ankle and shoulder — for the shortfall.

“I’m not satisfied, but yes, I’ll go back with a medal and a personal best,” said the 25-year-old, who had a previous personal best of 84.39m.

Asked whether he could breach the qualifying mark in the next 2-3 months, with the World Championships scheduled in Tokyo this September, he remained hopeful.

“Once I return, I’ll give my all in training. I’ve made some mistakes that affected my preparation. For instance, I had injuries — first in my ankle, then in my shoulder — which prevented me from training properly,” he said.

“I can’t say exactly how much time I’ll need, but I will try to give my best in the next competition and aim to qualify with a good distance,” added Sachin who hails from a farmer’s family at Khekra village near Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.

Fellow Indian Yashvir Singh also impressed with a personal best of 82.57m for a fifth-place finish.

Kujur wins India’s first men’s sprint medal in a decade

India’s first medal of the day came through Kujur, who ended a decade-long wait for the country in the men’s 200m with a bronze.

It was India’s first in the event since Dharambir Singh’s bronze in the 2015 edition.

The 21-year-old from Odisha delivered a standout performance, clocking a national record of 20.32 seconds, bettering his own mark of 20.40s set earlier this year at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition.

Highly impressed with Animesh Kujur’s rapid progress, Adille J Sumariwalla, former president of the Athletics Federation of India and a former sprinter himself, hailed the youngster as one of the best in the country.

“He’s an absolutely outstanding athlete. He’s doing very, very well. And if he can just improve his start a little more, he’ll be almost impossible to beat,” Sumariwalla said.

“He’s one of those very, very talented sprinters among the best I’ve seen in India.” Japan’s Towa Uzawa won gold with a time of 20.12s, while Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Abdu I Atafi took silver in 20.31s.