Through this fragmented sentence, Rohit Yadav aptly sums up the absence of Neeraj Chopra.
Mumbai: “ Neeraj bhai na rehne se thoda sa… jaise… unka fix rehta hai medal ” (With Neeraj not being there, it feels a bit…his medal is usually fixed).
Parul Chaudhary, the 5000m and 3000m steeplechase medallist of Hangzhou, had an unusually off-colour CWG but remains a rare Indian female face competing among the elite. Take Rohit Yadav, for instance. Only two Asians, and three athletes overall, have thrown better this season. “The moment can come any time, any way.
India will have a 74-member athletics squad in Aichi-Nagoya for the Asian Games, but not the one athlete who carries an assured medal aura. They include Gulveer Singh, the 5000-10000m double medallist of Glasgow, Tejaswin Shankar, the decathlon doer, and Murali Sreeshankar, the long jumper rebounding from a crushing knee injury that kept him out of the Paris Games. The 25-year-old produced an 87.68m throw at the World Athletics silver level continental meet in Bhubaneswar last month. Yadav sits behind Chopra, whose 88.05m came a day earlier at the Lausanne Diamond League.
The “fix” stamp, as per fellow javelin thrower Yadav. The destination remains the same, which is to go to the top level,” Yadav told HT.
Sable, marking his big-stage return in Japan from ACL surgery, was a rare countryman giving Chopra company in world-class Diamond League meets before the injury.
There’s 22-year-old Shaili Singh, who jumped 6.76m in 2023, and Lakshadweep’s Mubassina Mohammed, 20, who is rising steadily and has a fluent technique. “Yes, the road does open up a bit and becomes easier if you medal at an event like the Asian Games. I already have a good team around me, but a young athlete may then get the benefits of forming a proper team,” the Uttar Pradesh thrower, who trains at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Ballari, Karnataka added. Injuries have also derailed Yadav. “I’m looking forward to competing well and winning medals, not just at the Asian level but also at the global level. You need to be fit and consistent, only then can you hope to achieve any kind of success at the global level. The consistent jumper is leading a promising bunch of women jumpers in the country at present.
“You play the big competitions consistently only if you remain fit,” he said. “Of course, I think I have the ability,” Ancy told HT. Ancy said having a solid group of competitors at home helps push each other.
