Yasir finishes fourth in javelin; Pakistan in kabaddi semis

By our correspondent
LAHORE: Pakistan’s No2 javelin thrower Mohammad Yasir Sultan finished fourth in the men’s javelin throw event of the 19th Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Stadium on Wednesday.
Yasir managed just 78.13 metre throw in his second attempt to finish fourth. Yasir’s throws break-up was 72.19m, 78.13m, 74.04m, 75.68m, 74.13m and 77.32m. This is also Yasir’s second-best throw of his career. He had managed 79.93m throw at the Asian Championships in Bangkok in August which had fetched him a bronze.
India’s Neeraj Chopra, who is the Olympic and world champion, strongly defended his title with a massive throw of 88.88metre. The silver medal went to India’s Kishore Kumar Jena who produced a super throw of 87.54metre, his personal best, to claim silver. The feat also enabled him to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The bronze medal went to Japan’s Genki Dean Roderich who produced a throw of 82.68m.
Yasir’s coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari said that he made a fine effort, although he failed to win a medal.
“Its not a bad throw as he has managed near 80m throw. He managed 80metre and plus throw during warm-up and his feeling was 85m but on the pitch his body feelings got down which prevented him from a huge throw,” Bukhari told this correspondent from Hangzhou.
“But he is a fine athlete and he can manage 85m throw anytime. We will need to do some more work on him and I am very much confident that he will be a tough contender at the major stages in future,” Bukhari said.
“We will need to work more seriously. We will need to keep him in the camp and if we stop his camp then it will be difficult to raise his graph,” Bukhari pointed out.
“Today hardly he managed 60 percent throw but the way he competed is not bad and he can improve a lot,” Bukhari was quick to add.
Yasir’s was the sole medal hope after the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem pulled out of the event on Tuesday due to knee injury.
After the event Yasir’s urine sample was also taken for dope test which is a routine exercise.
Meanwhile in high jump final, featuring 12 athletes, Sharoz Khan ended at the last 12th spot with 2.10 metre jump.
In the men’s 5000 metre final, featuring 20 athletes, Pakistan’s Amir Sohail finished at the 13th spot with 14:42.68 timing while Mohammad Akhtar clocked 15:02.36 to finish at the 17th place.
With this Pakistan’s journey in athletics also ended.
Kabaddi: Pakistan on Wednesday conquered Malaysia 58-35 to make it to the semi-finals of the men’s kabaddi event at the Xiashan Guali Sports Centre.
This was the second straight win from Pakistan which helped them finish second in Group B where Iran ended as champions with three wins. Reaching semi-finals means Pakistan have confirmed a medal. If Pakistan fail to win semi-final still they will be able to claim a bronze as two bronze medals are awarded in the Asian Games.
Pakistan will now face India in the semi-finals on Friday (tomorrow).
Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) secretary Mohammad Sarwar told The News from Hangzhou that his side recovered well after initial loss.
“Yes, the team recovered well after loss to Iran in the opener. inshaAllah we will also play good kabaddi against India also,” said Sarwar, also a former Pakistan captain.
Pakistan are yet to compete in the event in wrestling and karate. Pakistan’s journey in weightlifting is also in progress. However there is no medal chance in that event. So far Pakistan have won one silver in men’s team squash and a bronze in the shooting through Kishmala, which is also the first medal from the nation in shooting in the Asian Games history.

Badminton: At the Beijing Gymnasium Pakistan’s top two male shuttlers failed to impress in the men’s doubles. The pair of Murad Ali and Mohammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti were downed by Kong Kong’s pair of Him Cheuk and Choi Sling 2-0 in the pre-quarter-finals.
The set score was 21-14, 21-11 in favour of the Hong Kong’s pair.