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Asian Athletics Championships: Coach’s pat bigger than a medal for Shivpal Singh

Shivpal Singh expressed the joy of getting the appreciation of coach Uwe Hohn after winning the silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Shivpal Singh, Shivpal Singh Shivpal javelin thrower, neeraj chopra, Asian Athletics Championship, sports news Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh produced a throw almost 4 metres better than his previous best of 82.56m to land the silver medal at the Asian Championships.

Shivpal Singh spoke to Nitin Sharma after winning the silver medal at the Asian Championship in Doha.

How satisfying is this silver?

Last year, when I had a throw of 82.28m in Guwahati, I was confident of doing the same at the Asian Games. Unfortunately, I suffered an elbow injury. Today’s silver medal has ended the disappointment and this medal is special to me. Today when I won the medal, coach Uwe Hohn hugged me and said, “Well done”.

For me, that is bigger than the medal. The weather was good here with wind blowing in the warm-up area and it helped my performance today. I was unlucky to miss out on the gold medal with a difference of less than .50m but I will take plenty of positives from this performance. The world championships will also take place at the same venue and this medal ahead of that event will boost my confidence a lot.

How was your preparation?

We had a training stint under coach Hohn in South Africa earlier this year. While I did not throw due to injury, my focus was on training and stamina. We will also be going to Europe later this year before the World Championships.

Neeraj (Chopra) too has always supported me a lot and it helps to train with an athlete like him. Most of my family members pursue javelin throw and their dream is to see me winning a medal at the international level.

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More

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