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Neeraj Chopra to compete in Eugene Diamond League javelin tournament
Neeraj Chopra is expecting stiff challenge from 2016 Olympic champion Thomas Rohler and world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany at the Eugene Diamond League javelin tournament
Commonwealth Games gold-medallist in javelin, Neeraj Chopra is anticipating another good show at the highly competitive Eugene Diamond League in USA. The one-day circuit meet on May 26 will be another opportunity for him to achieve his goal of joining the 90-metre club.
The eight-member field in USA will be similar to the season opening one day event held in Doha on May 4. The Indian thrower is expecting stiff challenge from 2016 Olympic champion Thomas Rohler and world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany.
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Andreas Hofmann, the third German in the field, is another formidable thrower.
Magnus Kirt of Estonia, Ahmed Bader Magour from Qatar and duo of Jakub Vadlejch and Petr Frydrych of Czech Republic complete the lineup in USA.
In Doha, Thomas dominated the field with a season best of 91.78m, followed by Johannes with a throw of 91.56m. Andreas was third at 90.08m. Chopra though set a national record of 87.43m, finishing fourth.
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Since the beginning of the season, the world junior champion has been focussing on setting personal goals. One of them was winning CWG gold. “Training has been on the right track. It has added to my confidence,” he said.
Neeraj is currently training at Patiala with foreign coach Uwe Hohn. But the national team comprising of seven javelin throwers will soon shift their training base to Finland’s Olympic Training Centre in Kuortane. Deputy national coach Radhakrishan Nair believes modern training equipment at the centre will be beneficial for the athletes ahead of Asian Games in Jakarta starting August 18. The proposal for exposure tour, says the coach has been given to sports ministry for its approval. “Hopefully it will be cleared soon,” he said.
