Neeraj Chopra will be aiming to clinch the one Gold medal title that has eluded the reigning Olympic Champion at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. India's ace Javelin thrower Chopra qualified for the Paris Olympics and the final of Worlds with just a single throw of 88.77 in the qualification round in Budapest on Friday. Two days after the brilliant qualification result, the 25-year-old will have 11 other competitors with him pushing for their best results.
But one battle that could define the Gold medallist for the prestigious title could be the Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem one. Neeraj Chopra is the reigning champion in the Olympics, Asian Games, and Diamond League finals. Meanwhile, Arshad has a Gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a Bronze medal in Asian Games 2018.
The two share a decent rapport as they also clicked a few selfies with each other. Nadeem brushed apart any rivalry with Neeraj, stating one always learns from a top athlete like the Indian. "I try to always compete with myself and to do better and better. There is no rivalry with Neeraj. You can always learn from top athletes," Nadeem
Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem head-to-head
The Indian and Pakistani throwers have faced each other nine times. The first of their meet came in 2016 when they competed at the South Asian Games in Guwahati. Chopra won the Gold in that competition whereas Nadeem finished with a Bronze.
Interestingly in all the nine meetings, the 25-year-old Indian has had the better of Nadeem. A year later, the two met at the Asian Championships in 2017, when Neeraj won the Gold and Nadeem finished seventh. They were up against each other in Asian Games 2018, when Chopra yet again won the Gold and Nadeem finished with the third prize. Neeraj won the Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 and Nadeem finished fifth in their other meeting.
The last meeting between the two came in the 2022 World Championships, where the Indian finished with a Silver on his neck, and the Pakistani finished fifth.
