World Championships: Collector’s item
Budapest, August 18
A World Championships gold is the only medal missing from Neeraj Chopra’s decorated cabinet and the Indian javelin thrower will fancy his chances as no clear-cut favourite has emerged ahead of the event beginning here tomorrow.
The 25-year-old has won gold medals in Olympics (Tokyo in 2021), Asian Games (2018) and Commonwealth Games (2018), besides becoming the Diamond League champion last year.
He won silver in last year’s World Championships in USA. If Chopra wins gold, he will become only the second Indian after shooter Abhinav Bindra to win both the Olympics and World Championships titles in individual sport.
Going by the current form of the top javelin throwers, there is no hot favourite to stand on the top of the podium after the August 27 final. The qualification round will be held two days earlier. Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver behind Chopra in Tokyo and bronze in the 2022 World Championships, Germany’s Julian Weber and defending champion Anderson Peters would be among the gold medal contenders.
Chopra competed in only two top-class competitions this season, winning gold in both of them — Doha and Lausanne Diamond League meetings on May 5 and June 30, respectively. He had an injury layoff of one month in between the two events after straining his muscles while training.
With nearly two months of rest and training, Chopra said he’s ready for the big event. “Competing and being consistent at the highest level against the world’s best athletes is definitely challenging. I want to give it my best, and if that happens, I will come back better than before,” said Chopra.
“I got injured which led me to skip a few competitions. After that, I returned and participated in the Lausanne Diamond League, where my performance was good. Since then, everything has got better, and I am happy with my performance and training,” he added.
Chopra’s winning throw of 88.67m in Lausanne puts him third on the world list. DP Manu and Kishore Jena are the other two Indians in the fray in men’s javelin throw.
Long jump medal
In other events featuring Indians, a medal from men’s long jump cannot be ruled out altogether as Jeswin Aldrin (8.42m) and Murali Sreeshankar (8.41m) lead the world list this season.
In men’s 3000m steeplechase, national record holder Avinash Sable will be hoping for a top-class performance in a field studded with star performers. Sable will be in action tomorrow in the heats.
India’s campaign will start with three men’s 20km race walkers — Akashdeep Singh, Vikash Singh and Paramjeet Singh — tomorrow, but they are not expected to be in the medal bracket. The country will not have any competitor in women’s 20km race walk after Bhawna Jat was called back home due to “whereabouts failure”.
The opening day will also see Shaili Singh competing in women’s long jump, Ajay Kumar Saroj in men’s 1500m heats and men’s triple jump qualification round where three Indians — Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker and Eldhose Paul — will be competing. — PTI
Close to breaching 90m: Chopra
Budapest: Neeraj Chopra has been trying it for a while now and the javelin thrower said he is close to breaching the coveted 90m mark. “Definitely, I’m close. I just need one perfect day with favourable weather conditions and I am confident I’ll be able to achieve the throw,” Chopra said. The Indian said he has got used to dealing with the huge expectations from him every time he takes to the field. “I have somewhat become accustomed to handling pressure. However, when I participate in competitions that occur once every two to four years, there is undoubtedly a sense of responsibility. But, I always give my 100 per cent and perform with complete focus. Initially, there were other factors which used to overwhelm me but gradually I have got used to it.” PTI
Jena gets visa
New Delhi: Indian javelin thrower Kishore Jena today received his visa to travel to Hungary, paving the way for him to compete at the World Championships. Jena’s visa application was cancelled by the Hungarian embassy on Wednesday for unknown reasons. “All of you might be aware that I faced an issue with my visa. However, the problem has been resolved now,” Jena said.
