Arshad settles for fifth in World Athletics final

KARACHI: Pakistan’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem fell short of a medal as he finished fifth in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, US, on Sunday.

Arshad, who had qualified for the finals of the men’s javelin throw event through 81.71 metres effort in the qualification stage on July 21, recorded 86.16 metres throw to finish fifth in the crunch finals dominated by Anderson Peters of Grenada who defended his title with a massive throw of 90.54m.

The 25 years old Arshad had also finished fifth in the last year’s Tokyo Olympics, a feat which had made him more popular. And on Sunday he repeated that performance again at the global stage.

Arshad did not start his finals journey well as he made a foul during his first throw. His second throw of 75.13m also was not impressive. And he needed a big effort to make it in the top-eight. He did it and did it well with a throw of 82.05 metres to qualify for the top-eight.

And there he managed a decent throw of 86.16m in his first attempt. It was followed by 83.63m and a foul attempt. His throws break-up is X, 75.13m, 82.05m, 86.16m, 83.63m and X. It was also Arshad’s third best throw of his career after his previous best throws of 86.38m and 86.29m which he, respectively, recorded in Iran’s international event and Nepal’s South Asian Games 2019 which also had earned for him the Tokyo Olympics ticket.

“I am happy with my performance,” Arshad said after his impressive show. “I was injured and was playing in an international circuit after a year and performing like this is a huge moment. I am thankful to the nation who prayed for me. I am thankful to the AFP’s president Major General (retd) Akram Sahi, secretary Mohammad Zafar and Salman Butt who helped me. I also am thankful to UK-based Dr Ali Sher Bajwa and Dr Asad Abbas who treated my injury,” Arshad said.

Arshad hoped he would deliver in the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games which will be held in Birmingham and Turkey in the coming few days.

Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) secretary Mohammad Zafar was extremely happy with the way Arshad performed.

“He gave an outstanding performance,” Zafar told ‘The News’ from Oregon. “Yes, he did not do his best but the way he clicked was excellent. The positive thing about him today was that his body-language was positive. Although his start was not good he made a strong comeback with his third throw which enabled him to qualify for the top-eight. And then it was a treat to watch his massive effort. He could have produced a medal had he pulled off his personal best but it’s a huge achievement again and we hope he will build on it in future,” Zafar said.

“Yes, we will now be looking forward to arranging a foreign coach to prepare him for future national duty as he is a great asset and we will spend on him,” Zafar said.

It was, indeed, another great day for the Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India who snared India’s first-ever silver medal in athletics at the World Championships through a super effort of 88.13m.

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won gold with a best throw of 90.54m while Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic grabbed bronze with 88.09m. Julian Weber of Germany finished fourth with 86.86m.

Then Arshad came in fifth place and was followed by Lassi Etalatalo of Finland with 82.70m, Andrian Mardare of Moldova with an 82.26m and Oliver Helander of Finland with 82.24m.