19 Sep 2025: India’s Sachin Yadav stunned one and all as he finished ahead of both Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships on Thursday. The 25-year-old narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing in fourth place. The Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Neeraj had a disappointing day, not even making it to the top five, eventually finishing in eighth place. On the other hand, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won gold at the Paris Games, had more of a shocker, finishing in tenth place.
Looking at Sachin Yadav’s performance, his coach, Naval Singh, a Dronacharya awardee, revealed that he gave the youngster some “extra motivation” by asking him to finish ahead of Arshad, “come what may.”
“I told him that come what may, make sure you finish ahead of Nadeem. He promised he would. I think it was extra motivation. Neeraj is the best in the world, Sachin proved that he has the potential to be one of the best,” Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Sachin was also told not to get overwhelmed by the occasion. His coach had high expectations for him, as Naval Singh wanted to see the youngster throw more than 90m.
Sachin, who is 6 ft 5 inches tall, threw a personal best of 86.27 metres in the first round, followed by throws of 85.71 metres, 84.90 metres, and 85.96 metres.
“I reminded him that he has the power as well as the technique to produce a big throw. My target for him was 90 metres today. He has thrown 90 metres in practice. But though he fell short in the final, he proved that he can handle the pressure of the World Championships,” he said.
‘Big plans for Sachin’
The Athletics Federation of India are now planning to change Sachin’s training base from the JLN Stadium in Delhi to the Sports Authority of India facility in Kengeri, near Bengaluru, or the National Institute of Sports in Patiala.
The federation will also try to convince the 25-year-old to start full-time training with India’s foreign coach Sergey Makarov.
“The AFI has focused on javelin for the last 15 years. We had foreign coaches back then, but when India didn’t win medals, we were questioned as to why we were focusing on javelin. Today, we have Neeraj and Sachin,” said Lalit Bhanot, chairman of the AFI.
“Yash Vir and Rohit also qualified for the World Championships. There is a javelin revolution in the country. Sachin will get all the support he needs, as he is world-class,” he added.
Summary: At the World Athletics Championships, Sachin Yadav revealed he was directed to surpass Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem at all costs, highlighting intense India-Pakistan sporting rivalry.