Sachin Yadav made his World Athletics C’ships debut on Thursday, and wasn’t really expected to put in a challenge in the men’s javelin throw final. An unknown, even after qualifying for the final, he made sure that everyone would now remember his name, finishing in fourth spot ahead of the likes of Neeraj Chopra, Arshad Nadeem and Julian Weber.
It was a nightmare for Neeraj, who finished eighth and was eliminated in the penultimate round. Meanwhile, Arshad came tenth, and Weber had to settle for fifth.
However, Sachin seemed to be comfortable in Tokyo and was even in the top three at one point. He registered a personal best of 86.27m in his first throw.
Sachin Yadav compared to Arshad Nadeem
Now, Sachin has been compared to Arshad Nadeem by Michael Musselmann, a coach from Peru. When he was 21, Sachin reached out to Musselmann.
Musselmann’s Facebook offers advice to throwers, ranging from tachnical feedback to financial support.
Speaking to IndiaToday.in, he said, “Sachin did very well at the Asian Athletics Championships. He threw around 84m many times, but in various small meets where there is no pressure, nothing. I thought, ‘let’s see how he handles pressure’. Because it’s different to throw with 70,000 people and 200 people. And at Asian Athletics, he did very good. And today was just phenomenal.”
Also comparing him to Nadeem, he said, “Sachin has tremendous potential. If he loses 10 percent of body fat or body mass, and gets stronger in the legs, I think he has the best arm speed in the world, much like Nadeem. Nadeem is not athletic, he is not very powerful. But, he has the best block, and his arm is from another world (arm speed). This is why he was able to throw 93m last year. Nadeem doesn’t lift big weights. He was a cricketer. Sachin was also bowling fast. You can make that connection.”
“If Sachin can improve and match Nadeem’s block and then gets the athleticism of Julian Weber, he will throw 95m. I am not joking!
“He uses his block very well. Back then, he didn’t have a great block. He had a good arm delay with his very fast arms. But he is a bit overweight. if he can improve his run-up speed by 5m/second and then works on that block, he easily throws 95m,” he added.
Before the final, the 25-year-old javelin ace’s personal best was 85.16m, which he achieved at the Asian Athletics C’ships and also bagged a silver medal there. Meanwhile in Tokyo, in addition to his personal best, which he got in his first throw, he also registered efforts of 84.90m, 85.96m, and 80.95 m.