Bengaluru: India’s most decorated javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra, enthralled the home crowd with yet another scintillating performance to win the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025, India’s first ever World Athletics-sanctioned Gold-level meet, with a best throw of 86.18m at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.
The 27-year-old cleared the distance of 86.18m in his third attempt, responding to the pressure built on him by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, who had recorded a distance of 84.34m to take the lead.
The ‘Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025’, which marks a significant milestone in Indian athletics is being jointly organised by Neeraj along with JSW Sports.
JSW Sports is working on changing the face of Olympic sports in the country by not just supporting athletes in achieving their dreams, but also organising such world class events in the country.
2015 World Champion Julius Yego of Kenya bagged the silver medal with a best throw of 84.51m, while Pathirage took home the bronze medal.
Chopra, who had cleared the 90m mark at the Doha Diamond League earlier this year, was an undisputed favourite on the home turf.
But the 27-year-old fouled on his first attempt while Yego took the lead with a throw of 79.97m.
But the home favourite responded with a throw of 82.99m in the second attempt to take the lead and the jam-packed Kanteerava stadium was already in celebration mode.
However, Pathirage seemed determined to crash the party with a throw of 84.34m in his third attempt.
However, Chopra responded in style as he began celebrating even before the javelin hit the ground and the scoreboard flashed a distance of 86.18m.
Apart from Chopra, India’s Sachin Yadav (82.33m) and Yashvir Singh (79.65m) also made it to the last eight stage.
Yadav was even in medal contention till Yego came up with his season-best throw in the fourth attempt to leapfrog to second spot.
Speaking after winning the title, Chopra insisted that he wasn’t happy with the distance, but said he was satisfied considering the windy conditions.
“I was expecting a good result but the wind was quite heavy and I am happy to win. It was mentally quite tough for me as I knew people expected me to win. I had come here after participating in two events and hence I was under pressure to perform in front of the home crowd,” he added.
2016 Olympic Champion Thomas Rohler of Germany could not make it beyond the first three throws as he fouled the second and third attempts after being able to clear a distance of only 75.85m in the first attempt.
Chopra thanked everyone involved in making the event a grand success and said that considering the response, he would strive to host many more world class athletics events in the country.
