Yasir Sultan clinches bronze at Asian throwing championship

SOUTH KOREA: Pakistan’s javelin thrower Yasir Sultan delivered a brilliant performance on Friday, winning the bronze medal at the Asian Throwing Championship in South Korea.

Sultan recorded his best throw of the season at the marquee event, achieving a distance of 77.43 meters to secure third place.

His opening attempt was a foul, but he registered 75.79m on his second throw. His third and fourth attempts measured 72.57m and 72.88m, respectively. 

The fifth attempt was ruled a foul, before he finally unleashed his season best throw of 77.43m on his sixth and final try, clinching the bronze medal.

Sri Lanka’s Pathirage claimed the gold medal with a throw of 82.05 meters, securing the top spot on the podium, while Japan’s Naganuma threw 78.60m to win the silver medal.

Yasir was Pakistan’s sole participant at the event. He was accompanied by national coach Fayyaz Bukhari during the competition.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s star javelin thrower and Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem did not feature in the championship.

Arshad is currently in the rehabilitation phase following surgery and is yet to regain full fitness. He underwent successful surgery on his calf muscles last month in Cambridge.

He will also not be participating in the upcoming Poland and Switzerland Diamond League.

Although the initial recovery has gone well, his medical team has advised against an early return to competitive action. As a result, he will not be taking part in any competitions in the immediate future.

His rehabilitation phase has begun and as per doctors' advice, he has started light exercises and gym sessions, which are part of his rehab process.

For the unversed, Arshad was scheduled to participate in the Diamond League in Silesia, Poland on August 16, followed by another tournament in Zurich, Switzerland on August 27.

However, due to his ongoing rehabilitation, he will be unable to compete in these two marquee championships.

Arshad captured global attention last year when he shattered the Olympic javelin record with a remarkable throw of 92.97 metres at the Paris Olympics and clinched the coveted gold medal.

Stretching his dominance, Arshad produced a similar outcome at the Asian Athletics Championship last month by securing the gold medal with an 86.40-meter throw.

Nadeem first shot to fame with his gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and he followed it up with a silver at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

He has won four golds, one silver and four bronze medals in various events so far, including the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Islamic Solidarity Games, South Asian Games and Asian U20 Championships.