No Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem on Day 1 of men’s javelin event in World Championships; here’s why

Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra faces an almighty challenge as he prepares to defend his title at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan starting Wednesday. Chopra has had a largely positive run this season, breaching the 90-metre mark for the first time in his career in the Doha Diamond League event and later going on to win the Paris DL meet as well as the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru.

The two-time Olympic medallist, however, had proved no match for Germany’s Julian Weber in the Diamond League Final, finishing runner-up for the second consecutive year. Chopra, however, will be eyeing a turnaround in the Japanese capital, where he was catapulted to superstardom overnight with a historic Olympic gold medal four years ago.

For the 27-year-old, defending the gold medal that he had won in the 2023 edition of the World Championships in Budapest will be far easier said than done.

Not only will he be facing Weber, who is in the form of his life and is among the favourites for the title, Chopra could also be facing off against Pakistani rival Arshad Nadeem for the first time since the latter denied him back-to-back Olympic gold medals with a record 92.97m throw in Paris last year.

Chopra, Nadeem put into separate qualifying groups

The Chopra vs Nadeem face-off, however, will not be happening right away, with the two rivals having been placed in separate groups for Wednesday’s qualifying session at Tokyo’s National Stadium. Chopra finds himself in Group A along with Weber, Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, Jakub Vadlejch, while Nadeem is in Group B along with Paris Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters, Kenya’s Julius Yego among others.

Chopra isn’t the only Indian competing at the event though; he’s joined by Sachin Yadav in Group A, while Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh will be competing alongside Nadeem in Group B. Sachin, Rohit and Yash were part of the lineup at the inaugural NC Classic in July, where Sachin had finished a creditable fourth with a best throw of 82.33m.

This is the first time four Indians are competing in the men’s javelin event at the World Championships, marking a landmark moment in Indian athletics history.

A total of 37 athletes will be participating in the men’s javelin qualifying session, 19 of whom have been included in Group A. The qualification mark has been set at 84.50m; athletes, however, can also make it to the final by finishing among the top-12 competitors at the end of the qualifying round.