Neeraj Chopra below par, but Sachin Yadav’s a star at the World Championships

When Sachin Yadav 25 qualified for the javelin throw final at the World Championships in Tokyo on Wednesday with a throw of 8367m he was an understudy to superstar Neeraj Chopra 27 just like all other Indian athletes in this discipline have been over the years Neeraj needed just one throw 8485m to qualify for the finalHowever 24 hours later Sachin not only trumped Neeraj in the final but also proved that he is a force to reckon with after narrowly missing out on the podium with a fourthplace finishSachin Yadav during the javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday PicAPPTIStruggling for rhythmNeerajrsquos defence of his World title ended in bitter disappointment as the twotime Olympic medallist finished a humbling eighth struggling for rhythm Chopra could only produce a best effort of 8403m nowhere close to his personal best of 9023m which he achieved earlier in the season in Doha Keshorn Walcott seasonrsquos best throw of 8816 of Trinidad and Tobago won the gold medal and the title of world champion 13 years after winning the Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games Twotime world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada 8738m took silver while USArsquos Curtis Thompson 8667m bagged the bronze the first World Championship medal for the United States in javelin throw in 18 yearsWhile Chopra finished eighth Pakistanrsquos Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem who clinched Olympic gold in Paris with a throw of 9297m finished 10th with a best throw of 8275m Interestingly Germanyrsquos season leader with 9151m Julian Weber finished fifth 8554mMeanwhile Sachin personal best of 8627m missed out on a World Championship medal by just 40cm The event however proved that there is much hope for future medals for India given Sachinrsquos sensational effort at the Japan National Stadium The best part about his display was that he did not just throw far but also did so consistentlyChopra started with 8365m Nadeem was at 8273m while Weber started with 8363 Yadav produced a great throw of 8627m first up smashing his previous personal best of 8516m Neeraj then hurled his spear across 8403m while Nadeem managed 8275m and Weber achieved 8611m in their second throws Yadav fouled in this attempt Nadeem was out in the next round with a foul while Neeraj Chopra who won a World Championship gold medal at Belgrade 2023 and a silver in Eugene USA 2022 fouled his third and fifth throws and dropped outTough lesson for ChopraldquoI donrsquot understand what happened today This has not happened for a long time I had some problems before coming to Tokyo Two weeks ago I had some back issues but didnrsquot want to tell anyone I thought I would still manage to get through it but javelin can be really tough If you are not in a good shape yoursquore out But itrsquos ok I will learn from today I probably need more training or must improve my technique This is life this is sport I have to accept it and move on I will go back to my room watch the competition check on my throws and work on themrdquo Neeraj was quoted as saying by World Athletics Sachin meanwhile continued to be in medal contention with throws of 8490m and 8596m before finishing the event with a modest 8095m in his sixth and final throw40cmThe margin by which Sachin Yadav fell short of winning bronzeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever