The country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem’s rise in the international circuit continues. A few days ago in Hungary, he won a silver medal in the World Athletics Championships and became the first Pakistani athlete to win a medal in the global event’s history.

Arshad managed a throw of 87.82 metres in the final to achieve the milestone in front of a jam-packed venue. India’s star athlete Neeraj Chopra won gold with a throw of 88.17 metre while Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch clinched bronze with a throw of 86.67m.

The gold in the World Championships was a missing link in Neeraj’s medals-filled career and the achievement made him the greatest athlete in India’s sports history, having won titles at every stage.

This was a super achievement for Mian Channu’s athlete Arshad Nadeem who returned to the international circuit in style after staying away from action for one year due to fitness issues.

In Hungary he shrugged off his rustiness and also repeated 87m throw during his six-throw stints in the final which was also a huge thing. However, he still needs to work hard on his fitness. He needs a lot of elasticity in his body and will require to improve his run up as well which lacks sting.

During the event, he also qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, an event in which he will be playing for the second time after having finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics.

This was the third time that Arshad was playing in the World Championships and he is now a mature athlete. He has proved that he is a great fighter, although a bit raw, and this performance in Hungary must have further boosted his morale ahead of the Paris Olympics where he wants to become Pakistan’s hero.

Besides decent cash prizes at home by different quarters for him, World Athletics will also award him a purse of 35,000 US dollars which is a huge encouragement.

Arshad is now a complete package. His personal best throw is 90.18 metre which he had managed last year in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

He is now a great sports star of Pakistan. And after star cricketers he is now getting popular in the country which is a huge plus for the nation which previously enjoyed cricket only after having lost gloss in squash and hockey in which Pakistan ruled the world for decades.

By performing in the 90 metre bloc in which he stays currently he can achieve more big things in his career. I think taking a medal in the World Championships is just the start for Arshad. He has a long way to go to achieve what Neeraj Chopra of India has achieved in his fine career.

But it’s a great thing that Pakistan and India now are real threats to the entire world in javelin throw. Three Indian javelin throwers were part of the World Championships. Pakistan is also preparing Mohammad Yasir Sultan who recently got bronze in the Asian Championships in Bangkok. Yasir is being trained by coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari, who coached Arshad for eight years and guided him into the Tokyo Olympics with an 86.29m throw which Arshad had managed in the 2019 Nepal South Asian Games.

But Bukhari’s services have never been recognised the way he deserved. And I will write another piece sometime in future about how Bukhari supported Arshad when he came to him for the first time years ago.

Both Bukhari and Arshad are employees of WAPDA, a department which deserves accolades. A big crew of WAPDA, also carrying its secretary, coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari and Assistant Director, wholeheartedly received Arshad late night at the Allama Iqbal Airport Lahore when he was returning home along with his coach Salman Butt after winning silver medal in the World Championships in Hungary.

Besides WAPDA officials the AFP secretary Mohammad Zafar, PSB Coaching Centre Lahore Director Abdul Majeed and Punjab government’s representative were also present at the airport to receive the hero.

Arshad’s main target is to achieve the 100m mark. The big man can do this if he is provided with quality training. He also will need to adopt quality work ethics. The achievements during the last few years have also affected Arshad’s personality and he now seems to be a changed man. He needs to act how Neeraj Chopra does. Chopra is a thorough gentleman and remains humble despite his huge achievements in the international circuit.

I don’t know why every time Arshad demands that he needs a coach when he returns from abroad after winning a medal or doing something decent at major stages despite the fact that he is getting medals while being coached by local coaches.

The question is whether Arshad should be trained by his local coaches or he should be sent abroad for training. The thing is that with the help of local coaches he has already achieved global distinction by claiming silver in the World Championships, which was a big missing link in his career, after having won golds in the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games and bronze in the Asian Games. If foreign coaches cannot guide him to 95metre plus then there is no need to send him abroad for training as he has the capacity to win medals even by training in Pakistan.

I remember he was sent to Turkey before the Tokyo Olympics and also to South Africa but that coaching did not help him despite spending huge money.

Yes he should be sent abroad if the world’s best coach is hired to train him and we will need top performance then.

Currently Salman Butt is coaching him. He accompanied him during the World Championships in Hungary with London-based Dr Bajwa acting as his physio. The AFP chief Major General (retd) Akram Sahi also witnessed Arshad’s exploits in Hungary.

Arshad no doubt missed the gold in the World Athletics Championships. According to experts he made a few mistakes which deprived him of a sure gold.

His coach Salman Butt was also not happy with the silver as he said he should have got gold but still it’s a big achievement and eventually Pakistan won a medal in the World Championships. This will make javelin more popular in Pakistan.

What he needs is to repeat his personal best throw of 90.18m which will help him achieve more major milestones. He also throws a metre behind the line and there too he will need to do some work so that he could further boost his performance.

He also needs more training facilities here at Lahore. He has to go to Punjab University for weight training. There should be every kind of facility for him at the same centre. World level javelins also should be at his disposal so that he could train with focus for the Asian Games where he should win gold. He has less than a month at his disposal to train for the Asiad and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and Sports Board Punjab (SBP) should fully back him and provide him with every kind of facilities at the PSB Coaching Centre Lahore and Punjab Stadium where he will be training for the Asian Games.

After the Asian Games, AFP wants to send him to Germany for training to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Let’s see how things go. But no doubt Arshad has given a big gift to the nation in the shape of the World Championships silver. He should not be complacent as he has to go a long way and needs to win titles at major stages. And for that he will have to work hard with sheer determination and steely resolve.

But at the same time the AFP should focus on Yasir also as he can also qualify for the Paris Olympics. The Asian Games is a big opportunity for Yasir to click and blast his way into the Olympics. Yasir also belongs to WAPDA.

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