Arshad hopes to win medal in Australia

Our correspondent

KARACHI: Pakistan’s leading javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem said he has overcome his weak points and would win medal for Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games slated to be held in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4-15.

“I had some issues in my techniques and have worked hard over them during the last couple of months training. I feel that I have improved a lot and hopefully I will be able to win medal for my country in Australia,” Arshad told ‘The News’ from the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad after his training session on Wednesday.

“I had some problems in my run-up and arm angle but now my arm has got straighter and run-up has also been improved. I am thankful to my coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari who is working hard with me,” Arshad said.

Arshad had shot to fame when he secured bronze medal in the South Asian Games held in India in early 2016 by recording a 78.33 metre throw, an effort which enabled him to grab third spot of the IAAF Under-20 world rankings.

If Arshad has to win medal in Australia he will have to record around 83-metre plus throw and the athlete says he can achieve that target.

“Yes, I can achieve that target. Before South Asian Games in India I was recording 73m, 74m in training and you saw I recorded over 78m in the event. Now in training I am doing 77m to 78m and it shows that I will be able to achieve 83 plus or even more than that in Australia,” the Wapda athlete said.

As the youth camp has been closed for a few days due to sports gala at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Arshad has been training constantly for the last couple of months. Najma Parveen will be the other athlete who will be part of Pakistan’s three-member athletics squad, also carrying an official, for the Games.