Without Neeraj Chopra, India Still Walks Away With Two Javelin Medals

India went into the men's javelin final at the Asian Games without its biggest name in the event — Neeraj Chopra, the two-time defending champion, missed these Games with an ankle ligament tear. India still came away with two medals: silver for Yashvir Singh and bronze for Rohit Yadav.

Both medals came down to the final throws. Rohit led the Indian charge early, hitting 84.35m on his third attempt for what would stand as his best of the night, good enough for bronze. Yashvir had a quieter start — 83.56m, then two throws in the low 80s — and was sitting third going into the last round. His final throw, 85.72m, a personal best, was enough to jump him into silver. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage saved his own best for last too, taking gold with 88.55m on his final attempt.

It's India's second Asian Games running with two men's javelin medals. At Hangzhou in 2023, it was Chopra's gold and Kishore Jena's silver. This time, with Chopra out, it fell to two athletes who'd both had a rough 2026 before this: Rohit had elbow surgery in 2023 and only managed 81.56m at this year's Commonwealth Games, while Yashvir's Commonwealth Games bronze (85.41m) was actually a shade below tonight's silver-winning throw.

Rohit, 25, is from a farming family in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, and trained on bamboo javelins his father cut near the village before he had a real one. He's since thrown 87.68m this year, making him only the third Indian ever past 87 metres, after Chopra and Kishore Jena. Yashvir, 24, switched from basketball to javelin at 13 and broke one of Chopra's own junior records along the way, throwing 78.68m at the under-20 level in 2021.

Before the Games, Rohit had put it plainly: "We always get a medal in javelin throw, and it is expected whenever Neeraj plays. We would also try to get a medal for India." Between the two of them, they got two.