Intense India vs Pak rivalry at Olympics: Neeraj Chopra to clash with Arshad Nadeem; cricketers say, ’Gold to jeetenge’

Star India javelin thrower and World Championships gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be aiming to repeat his Tokyo 2020 heroics to retain his title at the ongoing Paris Olympics on Thursday. Chopra registered a huge throw of 89.34 metres in Group B of the men's javelin throw qualification round at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday and made his way into the finals.

However, a tough challenge awaits defending champion this time around.

This year, the quality of the field is better than Tokyo with nine throwers crossing the automatic final round qualification mark of 84m in Paris as against six in Tokyo. Out of the nine, five made it to the final round with their first throws and thus will have a lot in their tanks for the medal round.

On of the more awaited event in the men's javelin throw in Paris Olympics is battle between Chopra and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem.

Nadeem, who beat two-time world champion Anderson Peters to win the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold with 90.18m, is unpredictable and he has pulled off big throws earlier also. After coming back from an elbow surgery, he claimed silver behind Chopra in the 2023 Budapest World Championships with a throw of 87.82m.

Arshad and Neeraj have developed a healthy rivalry over the years, with Neeraj dominating the head-to-head record 9-0. However, Arshad's best effort of 90.18 m in the 2022 Commonwealth Games is ahead of Neeraj's top effort.

The entire Pakistan cricket team came forward to wish him "First of all, Arshad Nadeem, congratulations on qualifying for the finals. We are eagerly waiting and hope that you will win a medal for Pakistan

The final will be played on Thursday at 11:55 pm IST. He successfully breached the qualification mark of 84.00 m.

(With inputs from agencies)