India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will defend his title at this year's World Athletics Championships. Neeraj will begin his campaign in the qualification round on Wednesday.
Sports News: India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will compete to defend his gold medal at the World Athletics Championships 2025. Neeraj will commence his campaign from the qualification round today, Wednesday. His biggest competition in this tournament will be against Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem and Germany's Julian Weber.
Neeraj won the gold medal at the World Championships held in Budapest in 2023 and also secured a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This time, his aim is to become the third athlete to win two consecutive gold medals at the World Championships. So far, this feat has only been achieved by Jan Železný of the Czech Republic and Anderson Peters of Grenada.
Neeraj vs. Nadeem: Prospect of an Exciting Clash
This will be the first face-off between Neeraj and Nadeem in this series after the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the Paris Olympics, Nadeem won the gold medal with a throw of 92.97 meters, while Neeraj's best throw was 89.45 meters, earning him a silver medal. However, Neeraj and Nadeem have been placed in separate groups for the qualification round. Neeraj is in Group A, while Nadeem is in Group B. Therefore, their direct encounter is likely to happen in the final (on Thursday).
Weber, Walcott, Vadlejch, and India's Sachin Yadav are also included in Neeraj's group. Meanwhile, Group B includes Nadeem, Peters, Yego, Da Silva, Rohit Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and Ramesh Thuranga Pathirage of Sri Lanka. Athletes throwing 84.50 meters or the top 12 performers in the qualification round will advance to the final on Thursday.
Performance of the Indian Team
India is entering this competition with a b team. Besides Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and Rohit Yadav will also participate in the qualification round. Neeraj has been given a wildcard entry as the defending champion, while the other three athletes qualified through world rankings.
This is historic for India, as the largest number of Indian athletes are competing in the same event this time. This significant presence of the Indian team is a matter of pride for the country and provides an opportunity for young athletes to perform on the international stage.
The challenge for Neeraj Chopra is not limited to Nadeem and Weber. In the final, he will also face formidable athletes like the 2015 World Champion from Kenya, Julius Yego, the 2012 Olympic Champion from Trinidad and Tobago, Keshorn Walcott, the experienced Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic, and Luiz da Silva from Brazil.
