Tokyo: Neeraj Chopra versus Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem’s rivalry will take the centre stage once again on Thursday in the final of javelin at the World Athletics Championship final. The Indian ace, who breached the 90-metre mark earlier this season, is chasing history as he looks to defend his crown on the biggest stage.
Chopra made qualification look effortless on Wednesday, needing just one throw to seal his spot in the final. His effort of 84.85 metres comfortably cleared the automatic qualification mark of 84.50, underlining his intent.
This marked the fifth consecutive time Chopra needed just one attempt to qualify for the final. The previous four occasions when Chopra made it to the final in the first throw are the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After Chopra, Germany’s Julian Weber breached the automatic qualification mark in his second attempt. Weber started with an 82.29m throw but bounced back to record the throw of 87.21m, making the direct qualification to the final.
Joining him in the final is compatriot Sachin Yadav, who scraped through after a tense wait, and his long-time rival Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion from Pakistan, who left it late but managed to qualify with his last attempt.
Chopra, who won a silver medal in the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, will on Thursday defend the World title he won in Budapest in 2023. The 27-year-old from Haryana created history in Budapest two years ago by becoming India’s first-ever world champion in athletics with a throw of 88.17m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem had secured silver on that occasion with an effort of 87.82m.
However, the cross-border rivalry intensified in Paris last year when Nadeem dethroned Chopra as Olympic champion with a massive throw of 92.97m, while the Indian settled for a silver with the best effort of 89.45m.
The 12-man field also features a host of world-class challengers, including former world champion Anderson Peters, Germany’s Julian Weber, and Kenya’s veteran Julius Yego. With the stakes high and the rivalry fierce, all eyes will inevitably be on the Chopra–Nadeem showdown — a duel that has come to define South Asian athletics on the global stage.
World Athletics Championship javelin final streaming details:
When: Thursday, September 18, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM IST
Live Telecast: Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Select 1 HD
Live Streaming: JioHotstar app and website
(IANS)
