Indian athletes made a solid start to their campaign at the World Athletics U20 Championships, with javelin throwers Ashish Yadav and T Dharanidharan and discus thrower Amanat Kamboj advancing to their respective finals.
Yadav topped Group A of the men’s javelin qualification with a throw of 69.87m, finishing second overall behind South Africa’s Jan-Hendrik Heymans. Heymans led the qualification standings with 76.02m after topping Group B.
The 19-year-old Yadav has a season and personal best of 74.49m. Heymans was the only athlete to cross the automatic qualification mark of 72.50m.
Dharanidharan secured the final available spot, finishing 12th overall after recording 68.07m to place fifth in Group B. The top 12 athletes, along with those clearing the automatic mark, advanced to Friday’s final.
India’s Neeraj Chopra holds the men’s javelin world record at the U20 championships, having thrown 86.48m in the 2016 edition in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
In the women’s discus throw, Kamboj also secured a place in the final after producing a season-best effort of 52.58m. She finished sixth in Group A and 12th overall.
China’s Su Yixin topped the qualification standings with 58.06m, followed by compatriot Ma Chenyi with 57.72m. The automatic qualification mark was set at 55m, with the top 12 performers making the final.
In the men’s 800m, Mogali Venkatram progressed to the semifinals after finishing third in Heat 5 with a time of 1:52.81. Uwin Anand, however, was eliminated after placing seventh in Heat 1 and 30th overall in 1:52.37.
Uganda’s Shafeck Murungi posted the fastest time across the five heats, clocking a personal best of 1:46.64.
The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team failed to advance after finishing fourth in its heat in 3:22.85. Piyush Raj, Tahura Khatun, Sayed Sabeer and Thiya Arumugam finished 11th overall across the three heats.
The United States topped the opening round in 3:18.26. The top three teams from each heat qualified for the final.
India had won a historic silver in the mixed 4x400m relay at the 2022 edition, clocking an Asian U20 record of 3:17.76, which remains the second-fastest mark in the world U20 record books.
