A HUGE yell echoed through Bishan Stadium yesterday as a spear was thrust into the sky. It flew in the curve of an imaginary rainbow and pierced the ground 74.70m ahead to the crowd's cheers.

Rohit Kumar, wearing bright-red tights, a short curly mop and confidence beyond his 14 years of age, knew his father back home in Uttar Pradesh would be proud with his effort.

His winning distance was an Indian Under-18 record, rewriting his own mark of 72.14m set at the Indian Grand Prix in Kochi in May.

Chinese Taipei's Cheng Chao-tsun was second (71.97m) and Pakistan's Raheem Khan third (60.73m).

'It was my dad who wanted me to be a thrower - I'm not sure why,' said Rohit after receiving his Asian Youth Games gold medal. He first picked up a javelin two years ago in school.

The senior Kumar was a former hurdler at national level who was also familiar with the skill of the spear, and thus taught his son the basics. Coach Rustam Khan then groomed the youngster over the next two years.

A check with the website of the IAAF, athletics' ruling body, showed that Rohit's 74.70m effort would rank him No. 3 among the world's youth this year.

Only 17-year-old Russian Valeriy Iordan (83.02m) and South Africa's 16-year-old Rocco van Rooyen (75.92m) have thrown further.

Rohit, last year's Commonwealth Youth Games runner-up, now has his sights on beating Anil Kumar Singh's national record of 80.72m within a year.

In hockey-mad and cricket-crazy India, throwing is still the teen's first love.

'I like cricket, but only for entertainment,' he said.

'I want to be famous in javelin.'

As Rohit wrapped up his win at about 4.45pm yesterday, athletes from China were just getting started on their five-gold roll. And Singapore picked up a bronze through Inez Leong in the girls' 100m hurdles.

'I enjoyed the run,' said CHIJ St Nicholas student Inez, 16, who clocked 15.22sec in her final race of the Games.

'I now know my standard compared to people from other countries.'

Japan's Masanori Oishi (boys' 400m) and Mayu Ueda (girls' 100m hurdles) and Thai Benjamas Yuadthong (girls' 400m) also struck gold.

Oishi, particularly, triumphed in style, with a shout at the line to seal a strong finish and a little jig for reporters during the post-race interview.

'Party, oh yeah!' he replied, when asked for his celebration plans.

Chinese athletes will be celebrating, too, after their five-gold haul.

Huang Haibing, 16, leapt 7.28m to win the boys' long jump with ease, as compatriot Gu Yu, 15, also claimed the girls' discus comfortably (45.43m).

Guangdong native Chen Dong, 16, cruised to victory in the boys' 400m hurdles final in 53.19 seconds. Singapore's Edwin Tay was fourth (58.00sec), beating his personal best of 59.14sec.

In the girls' 400m hurdles, Cheng Yafan, 16, of Jiangsu province came from behind in the last 10m to beat Vietnam's Le Binh Dinh in a personal-best 62.15sec.

Lu Jiateng, 16, did not manage a new best in his 110m hurdles win (13.96sec), but was happy nonetheless as a 100 yuan ($21) reward awaits from his parents.

'I'll spend it on food,' he said. 'My favourite is potato chips.'

jwang@sph.com.sg

Additional reporting by Cassandra Lim