Indian rookie Sachin Yadav narrowly misses Asian Athletics javelin gold to Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem

India’s Sachin Yadav narrowly missed out on a gold at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi, South Korea, on Saturday, as he came second behind Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem by just 1.24m. Arshad Nadeem won the gold with a throw of 86.40m while India’s latest javelin throw sensation, Sachin Yadav, took the second with a personal best effort of 85.16m.

Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama took the bronze with a personal best throw of 83.75m, while India’s Yash Vir Singh finished fifth (82.57m throw). Neeraj Chopra was not a part of the competition.

Arshad Nadeem had won the Paris Olympics 2024 gold medal with a massive throw of 92.97 as he crossed the 90m mark twice during the competition. In Gumi, he wasn’t required to touch the 90m mark and his effort of 86.40m is his season best so far.

“It was a good performance, especially since this was his first competition of the season," Nadeem’s coach Salman Butt told the Dawn.

“If there had been one day of rest between [yesterday’s] heats and finals, he would have had more recovery and a better throw. But this is a good start,” he added.

Sachin Yadav gives tough competition to Arshad Nadeem

Despite winning the gold, Nadeem faced stiff competition from Indian rookie Sachin Yadav, who won the gold medal at the National Games 2025 with a throw of 84.39m. At 6 feet 5 inches and weighing around 107 kg, the 25-year-old men’s javelin throw athlete Sachin is seen as a bright future prospect for India in the javelin throw, which has been made highly popular in India by two-time Olympic medal winner Neeraj.

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Sachin, however, failed to qualify for the 2025 World Athletics Championships as he missed the qualification mark (85.50m).

It also needs to be noted that this is Sachin’s first international competition.