Ashish Yadav, T Dharanidharan and Amanat Kamboj reach finals at World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene
On the opening day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene on August 7, 2026, javelin throwers Ashish Yadav and T Dharanidharan and discus thrower Amanat Kamboj advanced to their event finals. The trio progressed from qualification rounds as part of a multi-discipline Indian showing at the U20 meet in the United States.
Ashish Yadav led Group A in the men's javelin qualification with a best throw of 69.87m and finished second overall behind South Africa's Jan-Hendrik Heymans, who topped Group B with 76.02m. Yadav's season's best and personal best stands at 74.49m. T Dharanidharan secured the 12th and final qualifying position overall after a 68.07m effort that placed him fifth in Group B. The automatic qualifying mark for the men's javelin was 72.50m; only Heymans surpassed that distance in the qualification stage.
Amanat Kamboj produced a season's best of 52.58m to place sixth in Group A of the women's discus qualification and claimed the 12th and last available spot for the final. China's Su Yixin recorded the leading mark across both discus groups with 58.06m, while compatriot Ma Chenyi was second with 57.72m. The automatic qualifying standard in the women's discus was 55.00m.
In the men's 800m, Mogali Venkatram advanced to the semifinals after finishing third in Heat 5 with a time of 1:52.81. Uwin Anand was eliminated after Round 1, placing seventh in Heat 1 and 30th overall with a time of 1:52.37. Across the five heats, Uganda's Shafeck Murungi posted the fastest time, a personal best of 1:46.64. Qualification from the heats to the semifinal was by the first five in each heat plus the two fastest remaining athletes.
The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team missed progression after finishing fourth in its Round 1 heat in 3:22.85 and placed 11th overall across the three heats. The quartet — Piyush Raj, Tahura Khatun, Sayed Sabeer and Thiya Arumugam — were unable to match the top three teams who move through to the final; the United States led Round 1 with a time of 3:18.26. In the 2022 edition of the championships, India had won silver in the mixed 4x400m with an Asian U20 record time of 3:17.76, a mark that remains the second-best time in world U20 records.
The men's javelin final is scheduled for Friday, while the women's discus final was set to take place later tonight; Mogali Venkatram will compete in the 800m semifinals following his heat qualification. These events will determine which qualifiers from the opening day progress to medal contention at the World Athletics U20 Championships.
