Mumbai: Besides two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav, Sachin Yadav, and Sahil Silwal will be the other Indian participants in the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic (NC Classic) 2025 javelin throw championship, which will be held on May 24 in Bengaluru.
These four Indian javelin throwers including Chopra will be competing against some field that includes two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thomas Rohler of Germany, and Kenya’s Julius Yego – the 2015 world champion and Rio 2016 silver medallist. India’s other representatives for the NC Classic 2025 were revealed by the organisers via an Instagram post on Tuesday.
“India, here’s your homegrown contingent for the #NCClassic2025! The full list of confirmed Indian javelin throwers for the inaugural edition of the #NeerajChopraClassic is out! Stay tuned as they take the runway in Bengaluru. @sachin_javelin_, @rohit_yadav, @sahil_silwal,” said the post.
Sachin Yadav and Sahil Silwal had finished with the gold and bronze medals at the Federation Cup 2025 athletics meet, while Rohit Yadav, who qualified for the 2023 World Championships but couldn’t compete in Budapest due to an injury, is on the comeback trail after his recovery and has done well recently.
Classified as a WA ‘A’ category or Continental Tour Gold-level meet, the NC Classic will be the highest-tier international athletics event ever hosted in India to date. The event is co-organized by Neeraj Chopra, JSW Sports, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), and World Athletics (WA) and will be held at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
The Tokyo Olympic Games gold medallist, Paris Olympics silver medallist, and the reigning World Champion Neeraj Chopra will be the top attraction in the one-day event named after him.
The line-up also includes Pan American Games champion Curtis Thompson of the USA, who is the current world leader, and Japan’s Genki Dean, Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio da Silva, and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage.
Neeraj Chopra had also invited Pakistan’s Paris Olympic Games gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, but he decided to skip the event because of the escalating political tensions following the terrorist attack on tourists by Pakistan-supported terrorists.
(IANS)
