(Image Credit: NDTV Sports)
India's athletics golden boy Neeraj Chopra maintained his supremacy on the global track by advancing to the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday. The two-time Olympic medalist easily crossed the automatic qualifying mark of 84.50m with his opening attempt, throwing 84.85m in Group A.
Defending champion Chopra, who was competing in the tournament, made light work of asserting his class. Being the first Group A thrower, he delivered a behemoth 84.85m effort with ease, well over the qualifying mark. Having hit the mark in his first attempt, Chopra did not have to take any additional throws and took immediate confidence in securing a place in Thursday's final.
The 27-year-old will have tough competition in the finals, with some of the world's finest javelin throwers qualifying. German ace Julian Weber led Group A qualifying with a remarkable 87.21m throw. Other Group A qualifiers are Olympic medalist Keshorn Walcott, Czech champion Jakub Vadlejch, and India's own Sachin Yadav.
Group B will witness a clash of the titans like Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, former world champion Anderson Peters, and Indian throwers Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh fighting for the final berth. Emerging Sri Lankan thrower Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage is also in the competition, making things more intriguing to what will be a high-voltage climax.
Chopra is pursuing a rare accolade at this year's World Championships becoming just the third man in history to successfully defend a world title. The only others to have managed that feat are Czech great Jan Zelezny (1993, 1995) and Grenadian great Peters (2019, 2022).
At the last edition in Budapest, Chopra had thrown 88.17m to win gold, with Nadeem (87.82m) and Vadlejch (86.67m) finishing second and third. Thursday's final would also be the first encounter between Chopra and Nadeem since the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Nadeem won gold with an intimidating 92.97m throw, leaving Chopra second with 89.45m.
With form and conviction going in his favor, Chopra will hope to once again deliver a golden moment for the nation. Fans everywhere are looking forward to the last hurrah, which should be an epic clash of titans in men's javelin throw.
