Asian Athletics Championship: India's Sachin fights his way to silver; Pakistan's Arshad takes gold in men's javelin

Gumi [South Korea], May 31 (ANI): India's Sachin Yadav put in his best effort and gave Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem a run for his money; however, even with his top draw attempt, he bagged a silver while Pakistan's javelin ace walked away with the gold on Saturday at the Asian Athletics Championship.
Sachin was a whisker away from ending Arshad's dominance but fell marginally short by 1.24m and settled for a silver medal in the men's javelin throw event. Arshad raced away with the gold after sending his javelin to a distance of 86.40m.
Sachin, who had stayed outside the medal race for the majority of the event, notched up 85.16m, his personal best, to walk away with the second-placed finish. Sachin delivered his previous best of 84.39m at the National Games earlier this year, which helped him claim gold.
Sachin's compatriot, Yashvir Singh, cracked his personal best attempt with a throw of 82.57m and finished in the fifth position. India's javelin spearhead Neeraj Chopra, who set India's national record of 90.23m at the Doha Diamond League earlier this month, did not participate in Gumi.
In the men's 200m final, Animesh Kujur shattered the national record after clocking 20.32 seconds to sprint towards the bronze. The Indian athlete set the previous national mark at 20.40s during the Federation Cup earlier this year.
Animesh Kujur became just the second Indian to reach the 200m podium at the Asian Athletics Championships after Dharambir Singh's 2015 feat.
Japan's Towa Uzawa breezed past to the gold medal with a championship record of 20.12s, while Saudi Arabia's Abdulaziz Atafi walked away with a silver after giving his personal best of 20.31s.
India's hopes in the women's 200m final were tossed aside after Jyothi Yarraji (23.47) and Nithya Gandhe (23.90) finished fifth and seventh, respectively. China's Chen Yujie sprinted to the gold with a 22.97s run. (ANI)