Tokyo [Japan], September 16 (ANI): India’s Olympic medalist and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will kickstart his title defence on the ongoing World Athletics Championships when he performs the boys’s javelin throw qualifiers in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The medal conflict is scheduled for Thursday. Neeraj’s conflict with Pakistani arch-rival and reigning Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem will probably be one of many main highlights of the competitors.
Back in 2023, when Neeraj grew to become the primary Indian to safe a World Championships gold medal with a throw of 88.17 m in Budapest, it was Arshad who ended up as silver medalist with a throw of 87.82 m, as per Olympics.com. With the Pakistani outshining Neeraj with an Olympic report throw of 92.97 m to seize the gold and having Neeraj accept a silver, this rivalry, majorly dominated by Neeraj, has solely intensified.
Neeraj is at present ranked world quantity two and is chasing a third-successive medal on the showpiece occasion, turning into India’s first World Championships silver medalist and first male medalist again in 2022, following it with a historic gold at Budapest in 2023.
So far, the Indian famous person has loved a spectacular 2025 season.
Chopra took the highest honours within the inaugural version of the Neeraj Chopra Classic, a contest named after him at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru in July. The reigning javelin throw champion stood triumphant with 86.18m.
Neeraj kickstarted the season with a win on the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April and adopted it up with a really particular second-place end at Doha Diamond League in May, the place he crossed the 90-metre mark for the primary time ever, with a throw of 90.23 m.
He additionally went on to safe a second spot within the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland later that month and resumed his successful methods with back-to-back titles at Paris Diamond League and Ostrava Golden Spike, with finest efforts of 88.16 m and 85.29 m.
In late August, Chopra’s streak of prime two finishes at occasions continued as he secured the second spot with the most effective throw of 85.01 m throughout the Diamond League last at Zurich.
It was Germany’s Julian Weber who topped the sector with a large throw of 91.51 m, which got here on his second try. He carried out two huge 91-plus throws in his first two makes an attempt. Neeraj didn’t have the most effective evening, beginning with two throws within the early 80s, following it with three disappointing fouls, which put his top-two end streak underneath risk, however in his last throw of 85 m plus, he got here in clutch to increase his run of top-two finishes to 26 successive occasions.
This season, he’s third when it comes to throws, with Germany’s Julian Weber and Brazil’s Luiz da Silva having thrown higher.
There is a discipline of 37 throwers, cut up in two teams, battling for 12 locations in Thursday’s last, with the automated qualification being 84.50 m.
The 27-year-old Indian famous person is part of Group A, whereas Arshad is in Group B. From India, there will probably be three extra in rivalry for finals, Sachin Yadav (Group A), Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh (Group B). (ANI)