Hyderabad: For 43-year-old Kashinath Naik, joy knew no bounds when Neeraj Chopra in the wee hours of Monday yet again etched his name into the records books by winning the coveted gold medal at the World Athletics Championship at Budapest in Hungary. Neeraj, the reigning Olympic champion, became the first Indian to achieve the feat.
Kashinath Naik, who coaches at the prestigious Pune-based Army Sports Institute, had seen Neeraj from his fledging days. "I have been working with him since 2015 and he emerges victorious only because of his confidence," a jubilant Kashinath Naik, who was the Indian Athletics team coach from 2013 to 2018 (before the Asian Games), told ETV Bharat over the phone.
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According to Kashinath Naik, a bronze medallist in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Neeraj wanted to win the Gold at the World Athletics Championship, as only that medal was missing from his illustrious career.
"Neeraj had won the Junior World Championship in Poland, then he also won the gold medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and then emerged as the champion in the Diamond League. Only the World Championship gold medal was missing and his dream was to clinch it. His dream has been finally fulfilled," added Kashinath Naik, who is a 15-time national champion in Javelin Throw and now resides in Pune.
Kashinath Naik is confident that Neeraj Chopra, who hails from Haryana, will bag another Olympics medal at next year's quadrennial showpiece to be held in Paris." "I am confident that he will play in the Paris Games and also he will give the country another medal," Naik, who was the assistant coach of the Indian athletics team in 2016, signed off.
There was another reason for Kashinath Naik to smile. During the event where Neraj stole the limelight, his other protege DP Manu, who hails from Karnataka, finished in the sixth position, with a throw of 84.14 m.
Neeraj has acknowledged the role of Kashinath Naik in his career and had paid to visit to the latter's residence when he had come for an inaugural function at the ASI, along with Union Defence Minister.
