National Games 2025: Indian athletes who crossed the Asian C'ships qualifying mark

Indian athletes had a strong outing at the National Games 2025, with multiple meet records and several athletes qualifying for the Asian Athletics Championships by meeting the qualifying marks set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

Despite being the season opener, many athletes gave their all to attain the qualifying mark for the Asian Championships, which will be hosted by South Korea in May 2025.

One of the standout performances came from Sachin Yadav in the men's javelin throw, while on the track, Jyothi Yarraji’s brilliant run in the 200m and Aishwarya Mishra’s exceptional meet record in the 400m turned heads.

Here is a list of athletes who impressed with their performances and also met the Asian Championships qualifying mark:

Jyothi Yarraji - 200m

Indian speedster Jyothi Yarraji once again showcased her class, clinching titles in the women’s 200m flat race and the women’s 100m hurdles. She also met the qualifying mark in both events.

She stunned everyone with her performance in the women’s 200m, clocking her third career-best time of 23.35s to win the gold medal, narrowly surpassing the Asian qualifying mark of 23.39s.

Earlier, in the 100m hurdles heats, she clocked 13.20s, breaching the qualifying mark (13.26s) in her first outdoor tournament of the year. She later improved her timing to 13.10s in the final, securing another gold medal.

Sachin Yadav - Javelin Throw

A rising star in men’s javelin throw, Sachin Yadav stole the show in Uttarakhand, winning the gold medal with a stunning throw of 84.39m.

This was his personal best and a new meet record. However, what truly caught attention was that this mark ranked as the fifth-best throw ever by an Indian javelin thrower and also gave him the current world lead on the circuit.

Not only did he qualify for the Asian Championships, but he also came close to meeting the World Championships qualifying mark of 85.50m. This performance will boost his ranking points, increasing his chances of securing a spot at the World Championships.

Additionally, four more javelin throwers—Rohit Yadav, Vikash Sharma, Shivpal Singh, and Shivam Lohakare—crossed the qualifying mark but will still need to rely on results from future competitions for final selection.

Aishwarya Mishra - 400m 

Another eye-catching performance came in women's 400m when Aishwarya Mishra ran her personal best timing of 51.12s to not only break the meet record but also qualify for Asian championships.

This was the first time in the last two years that Aishwarya, who had few injury concerns earlier, has clocked a sub 52s timing. Also, this mark was fourth-best by an Indian player ever.

Sawan Barwal - Long-distance Runner

Long-distance runner Sawan Barwal became only the second athlete after Jyothi Yarraji to meet the qualifying marks in two events. He achieved this feat in both the 5000m and 10,000m races.

He clocked 13:45.93 in the 5000m and 28:49.93 in the 10,000m, winning gold medals for Himachal Pradesh. His 10,000m time was also a new personal best.

Men's 20Km racewalk Final 

One of the major talking points from the National Games was in the men's 20 km racewalk final where six athletes clocked better timing than the previous meet record of 1:23:26s.

Additionally, all these six athletes, Servin Sebastian (1:21:23), Suraj Panwar (1:21:34), Amanjot Singh (1:21:42), Paramjeet Singh Bisht (1:22:02), Ram Baboo (1:22:26), Mukesh Nitharwal (1:22:52), also breached the qualifying mark (1:24:00) of the Asian Athletics Championships.

However, the final decision of the squad for the Asian Championships will be taken by AFI based on their performances in the coming tournaments.

Other Indian athletes who have crossed the qualifying mark set by AFI.

• Chanda KM - Women's 800m - 2:00.82s
• Twinkle Chaudhary - Women's 800m - 2:03.46s
• Amandeep Kaur - Women's 800m - 2:04.76
• Agasara Nandini - Women's Heptathlon - 5601 points
• Ankita Dhyani - Women's 5000m - 15:56.03s
• Sanjivani Jadhav - Women's 5000m - 15:59.12s 
• Pooja - Women's High Jump - 1.84m
• Tajinderpal Singh Toor - Men's Shot Put - 19.74m
• Samardeep Singh Gill - Men's Shot Put - 19.38m
• Kiran Matre - Men's 10,000m - 29:04.76s