NEW DELHI: Ashish Yadav‘s journey started with a wooden javelin in Mawaiya, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. He trained near dry ponds with quicksand patches. The dangers of such a location notwithstanding, Ashish wanted to follow in Neeraj Chopra‘s footsteps.The 19-year-old weighed all of 70kg when he was picked to train in Hisar at the facility jointly run by the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI). His six-feet-one-inch frame put him in the underweight category, but coach Arvind Kumar saw promise in him. And on Friday night in Eugene, Oregon, that promise turned into a silver medal.At the U20 World Championships, India won its first medal courtesy of Ashish’s 74.09-metre throw, behind South Africa’s Jan-Hendrik Heymans (80.50m). It is the first time India have won a medal in javelin throw at the Junior World Championships since Neeraj Chopra’s monster 86.48m showing in 2016.“When he had come to me, he had done only 60 metres in the trials. He’s improved significantly in the last two years. There was no explosive raw power, but now… it is a proud moment for India,” Ashish’s coach Arvind told TimesofIndia.com.Making Ashish’s performance even more commendable is the fact that he didn’t have enough time to practise after recovering from a knee injury. Additionally, he was reeling mentally from the disappointment of finishing fifth at the U20 Asian Championships in Hong Kong.There, he arrived late due to visa issues and encountered dietary challenges since he is a vegetarian. Ahead of the U20 World Championships, he was throwing well during training sessions.“Before the competition, we spoke about doing better than the U20 Asian Championships. What we couldn’t do there, he should do it here. And he was throwing well before he left,” said Arvind.“When we spoke today, after the competition, he said he was not entirely pleased with the performance because he was targeting a bigger throw… But he was not entirely downbeat either. It would have been ideal if he had reached his personal best [74.49m at the 2026 Indian Open],” he continued.Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal 10 years ago in Bydgoszcz, Poland, while setting a world junior record that still stands, was not only the starting point for arguably India’s greatest Olympian ever, but also set off a domino effect.Neeraj lauded the youngster and backed him to achieve greater success in the future.“Always a great feeling to see Indian athletes competing and winning at the international level; this one is a little more special for me as a javelin thrower. Super proud of you, Ashish, on your Silver at the U-20 Worlds; this is just the start!” Chopra wrote on X.There are four Indian men in the top 20 of the javelin throw rankings: Neeraj Chopra (6th), Sachin Yadav (8th), Rohit Yadav (16th) and Yash Vir Singh (19th). The wave began with Neeraj, and Ashish, the 19-year-old son of a milkman, is the latest to be taken in by it.“Neeraj’s contribution to javelin throw is huge. It is entirely down to him. Earlier, India’s record was around 80 metres [Rajinder Singh’s 82.23m mark in 2015]. India has one of the best athletes in the world now. After Neeraj’s arrival, it’s produced a wave. The barrier that existed has been broken now. The more athletes play a certain sport, the more talent will come out of it,” explained Arvind.“Ashish watches clips of Neeraj to get better. They even trained together in South Africa in 2024, so there is a big impact,” he added.
