Himanshu has all the ingredients to excel, says coach

ON a humid evening at the port city of Dammam in Saudi Arabia, a lad from India, with the Javelin, had set his eyes on gold, at the Junior Asian Athletics Championship which concluded recently.

- CHANDRA PRABHU @Chennai

However, he was surrounded with doubts and question marks, thanks to the incessant pain he had on his left ankle. The throws coach at the National camp Virender Dabbas, although sceptical, challenged him to get the job done.

"Coach saab, ap tension na loh, mein throw marunga, Rashtragaan bajega (Coach, don't get tensed, I'll go for the throws and let the national anthem play)," the lad replied. He was none other than Himanshu Khakkar, who, at 17 may be leading India's next generation of Javelin throwers, as the culture grows fervorous. His 67.57 metre throw earned India's solitary gold at the event as the camp returned home with 11 medals.