GLASGOW: Defending Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem failed to defend his men’s javelin title after finishing ninth in the final at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday night.
Nadeem, who clinched the gold medal at the previous edition of the Games in 2022 with a sensational throw of 90.18 metres, started his defence with a foul.
He eventually got onto the leaderboard with a 77.41-metre throw in his second attempt but had slipped down to the ninth spot by the end of the round.
Arshad Nadeem’s attempts in order:
First attempt: Foul
Second attempt: 77.41 metres
Third attempt: 75.39 metres
The 29-year-old needed to improve his standing in his third round to stay in contention but only managed a slender throw of 75.39 metres and remained in ninth spot, which resulted in him being knocked out of the medal race.
Sri Lanka’s Ramesh Tharanga led the competition after four rounds with a best throw of 89.75 metres, while India’s Neeraj Chopra secured second place with 85.83 metres. Chopra had topped the standings after the opening two rounds before being overtaken by the Sri Lankan athlete.
The Pakistani athlete qualified for the final after finishing seventh in the qualification round with a best throw of 78.63 metres.
No athlete met the automatic qualifying standard of 84 metres during the three-throw qualification event. Instead, the 12 competitors with the best throws progressed to the final.
Sri Lanka’s Ramesh Tharanga led the qualification standings with a throw of 82.84 metres, followed by Grenada’s Anderson Peters (81.29m) and South Africa’s Douw Smit (80.64m).
England’s Ben East finished fourth with 80.38 metres, while India’s Neeraj Chopra was fifth with 79.61 metres. Australia’s Cameron McEntyre qualified sixth with 78.91 metres, one place ahead of Nadeem.
Pakistan’s Yasir Sultan failed to reach the final after placing 14th with a best throw of 74.36 metres
