LAHORE: Pakistan’s No2 javelin thrower Mohammad Yasir Sultan finished fourth in the men’s javelin throw event of the 19th Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Stadium on Wednesday.
Yasir managed just 78.13 metre throw in his second attempt to finish fourth. Yasir’s throws break-up was 72.19m, 78.13m, 74.04m, 75.68m, 74.13m and 77.32m. This is Yasir’s second-best throw ever. He had managed 79.93m throw at the Asian Championships in Bangkok in August which fetched him a bronze.
India’s Neeraj Chopra, who is the Olympic and world champion, strongly defended his title with a massive throw of 88.88metre. The silver medal went to India’s Kishore Kumar Jena who produced a super throw of 87.54metre, his personal best, to claim silver. The feat also enabled him to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The bronze medal went to Japan’s Genki Dean Roderich who produced a throw of 82.68m. Yasir’s coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari said that he made a fine effort, although he failed to win a medal. “It's not a bad throw as he has managed nearly 80 metres. He managed 80metre and plus throw during warm-up and his feeling was 85m but on the pitch his body feelings got down which prevented him from a huge throw,” Bukhari told The News from Hangzhou.
“But he is a fine athlete and he can manage 85m throw anytime. We will need to do some more work and I am very much confident that he will be a tough contender at the major stages in future,” he said.
“We will need to keep him in the camp; if we stop his camp then it will be difficult to raise his graph,” Bukhari pointed out. “Today he hardly managed 60 percent throw but the way he competed was not bad; he can improve a lot,” he was quick to add.
Yasir was the sole medal hope after the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem pulled out of the event on Tuesday due to a knee injury. After the event Yasir’s urine sample was taken for dope test which is a routine exercise.
Meanwhile, in high jump final, featuring 12 athletes, Sharoz Khan ended at the last 12th spot with 2.10 metre jump. In the men’s 5000 metre final, featuring 20 athletes, Pakistan’s Amir Sohail finished 13th with 14:42.68 timing while Mohammad Akhtar clocked 15:02.36 to finish at the 17th place.
With this Pakistan’s journey in athletics ended. Badminton: At the Beijing Gymnasium, Pakistan’s top two male shuttlers failed to impress in men’s doubles. The pair of Murad Ali and Mohammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti were downed by Kong Kong’s pair of Him Cheuk and Choi Sling 2-0 in the pre-quarter-finals.
The set score was 21-14, 21-11 in favour of the Hong Kong pair. Kabaddi: Pakistan on Wednesday conquered Malaysia 58-35 to make it to the semi-finals of the men’s kabaddi event at the Xiashan Guali Sports Centre. This was the second straight win for Pakistan which helped them finish second in Group B where Iran ended as champions with three wins. Reaching semi-finals means Pakistan have confirmed a medal. If Pakistan fail to win semi-final still they will be able to claim a bronze as two bronze medals are awarded in the Asian Games.
Pakistan will face India in the semi-finals on Friday (tomorrow). Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) secretary Mohammad Sarwar told The News from Hangzhou that his side recovered well after the initial loss.