In a strong start at the World Athletics U20 Championships, Indian athletes qualified for the finals. Javelin throwers Ashish Yadav and T Dharanidharan, along with discus thrower Amanat Kamboj, showcased impressive performances on the opening day.
Event Context
Yadav excelled in the men’s javelin Group A qualification round, securing first place with a throw of 69.87m, finishing second overall. He was outperformed only by South Africa’s top contender, Jan-Hendrik Heymans, who led Group B with a throw of 76.02m. At just 19 years old, Yadav boasts a season’s best and personal best of 74.49m.
Heymans was the only athlete to surpass the automatic qualification threshold of 72.50m.
In another highlight, Dharanidharan clinched the final spot for the upcoming round by finishing fifth in the Group B qualification with a throw of 68.07m.
Participants either needed to exceed the automatic qualifying mark of 72.50m or rank among the top 12 performers to advance to the final scheduled for Friday. Indian star Neeraj Chopra currently holds the world record in this event, with a stunning throw of 86.48m achieved in the 2016 championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
In the women’s discus throw, Amanat achieved her season’s best with a throw of 52.58m, placing sixth in Group A and securing the last spot in the finals. China’s Su Yixin led the two qualification groups with an impressive throw of 58.06m, closely followed by her compatriot Ma Chenyi, who threw 57.72m. Athletes needed to surpass the automatic qualifying mark of 55m or rank among the top 12 to qualify for the evening’s final.
In the men’s 800m, Mogali Venkatram advanced to the semifinals after finishing third in Heat 5 with a time of 1 minute 52.81 seconds. Uwin Anand, on the other hand, finished seventh in Heat 1, placing 30th overall with a time of 1:52.37 seconds. Uganda’s Shafeck Murungi topped all heats with a personal best of 1:46.64 seconds. The first five finishers in each heat, along with the two fastest runners from the remaining heats, qualified for the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the Indian 4×400m mixed relay team was eliminated in the first round, finishing fourth in their heat with a time of 3 minutes 22.85 seconds, placing 11th overall. The team comprised Piyush Raj, Tahura Khatun, Sayed Sabeer, and Thiya Arumugam. The USA team led the heats with a time of 3:18.26, with the top three teams from each heat moving on to the finals. In the 2022 edition of this biennial championship, India achieved a historic silver in the mixed 4x400m relay, setting an Asian U20 record with a time of 3:17.76 seconds, which remains the second-best U20 record globally.
