As doubts linger over Neeraj Chopra’s participation at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, two Indian javelin throwers have breached the qualification mark set for the competition. Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh, on Saturday, June 13, qualified for the Games with career-best throws of 83.76m and 82.93m respectively.
Their efforts were enough to go past the CWG 2026 qualification mark of 82.61m set by the Athletics Federation of India. Rohit and Yashvir achieved the feat in what was effectively the final opportunity to qualify this season. The governing body had originally kept the Federation Cup in May as the cut-off event for CWG selection, but after no athlete managed to breach the mark in difficult windy conditions, one additional competition was added at the Ludhiana leg of the Indian Athletics Series.
The qualification of Rohit and Yashvir came as a huge relief for officials after World Championships finalist Sachin Yadav was forced to skip the event due to an elbow injury. He is now likely to miss the trip to Glasgow.
Yadav, who finished fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo last year, has also not breached the CWG qualification mark of 82.61m set by AFI. His best effort this season remains the 81.95m he registered at Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi in April.
The 26-year-old has endured a difficult season. He finished fifth at the Federation Cup with a throw of 79.07m before placing eighth in his Diamond League debut in Rome on June 4 with a 79.18m effort, well below his personal best of 86.27m.
India remain one of the strongest javelin nations in the world. Since Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal in Tokyo, the sport has seen massive growth across the country. However, Indian throwers have recently struggled amid the rise of a new force in the event, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, who produced a career best throw of 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League.
NEERAJ CHOPRA’S CWG PARTICIPATION IN DOUBT
Meanwhile, star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is set to miss the Doha Diamond League on June 19 as he continues to recover from a back injury in Switzerland.
Chopra, who won gold and silver medals at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics respectively, began his Diamond League campaign in Doha last year and crossed the 90m mark.
The 28 year old from Haryana is currently in Bienne, Switzerland, for a 47 day off season training camp along with long time physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha and coach Jai Choudhary ahead of this year’s Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
– Ends
