The Indian javelin ace Neeraj Chopra is going to be in action at 4.35 PM on Wednesday, where he would look to end the season with yet another gold medal. India has achieved its best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games. and a medal in javelin would certainly better it. Since Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem is already out of the competition, things would be a lot easier for Neeraj Chopra.
Indian athletes have already accumulated bagful of medals in the track & field events in this edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Over billion eyes still await for the Men’s Javelin Throw final to catch India’s Neeraj Chopra in action on Wednesday, 4th October. However there will be no India vs Pakistan rivalry as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem has pulled out of the Games following an injury.
The Pakistani suffered a knee injury and has opted to pull out of the continental event at the last moment. The news of his withdrawal came just a day before the Men’s Javelin Throw final at the Asian Games.
Their Asian Games rivalry was eagerly awiaited since both the players recently finished on the first two places at the World Championships this year. While Neeraj won his maiden gold, Arshad became the first-ever Pakistani athlete to win a medal in the World championships as he bagged the silver. Interestingly, whenever the duo has participated in any event together, the Pakistani has never been able to beat Neeraj.
Neeraj Chopra competing with himself
Ahead of his bid to defend his Asian Games title, Neeraj had said “Whenever Arshad has played with me, I have won. But the focus is always on giving my best, not on who is playing against me. In athletics, you compete with yourself and push yourself to do your best. Yes there is some focus on India and Pakistan at the Asian Games as there are no European athletes, but my fight is against myself, I have to better my technique and throw. Rest, we will see,” said Neeraj to the media in Hangzhou.
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Head to head, both athletes have faced off in nine international events together, seven times at senior level and two times at junior level, as per Olympics.com. The first meeting of these two athletes was back in the South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati, where Neeraj got gold and Nadeem took home a bronze. As of now, Neeraj Chopra has a 9-0 lead over Nadeem. However we will now have to wait for their 10th head-to-head appearance.
Pakistan’s Arshad holds a lead over Neeraj in terms of personal best throws, touching the 90.18 mark during CWG 2022, where he won gold. He piped then-world champion, Anderson Peters of Grenada, with this effort. Neeraj had missed the event due to an injury. It was only the second time after Chinese Taipei’s Chao-Tsun Cheng 91.26 m throw at the 2017 World Underside, that a South Asian athlete touched the 90-m mark.
Neeraj Chopra Not Fretting Over 90m Mark
However, Neeraj is yet to touch this much-talked-about 90 m mark, with his personal best of 89.94m at the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden being a national record as well. On throwing the 90-m mark, Neeraj said that he is looking forward to it himself, but is in no hurry to do so.
“I am very close to it. I want to hit that throw myself. I believe in the process. Whenever it will happen, it will happen. I am not in a hurry. I am happy with my consistent performances, this is my main focus,” said Neeraj. He said he likes the fact that he has been so consistent for the last four years and added that he aspires to be consistent not only on-field but in training too.
