The Neeraj Chopra Classic will be held on Saturday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. This tournament has been started by India’s double Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra, and the first edition will have top javelin throwers from around the world.
Along with Neeraj Chopra, many Olympic champions and international stars will also take part in this event. Based on performances this year and recent form, the meet is expected to be exciting.
Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025: World’s Best Javelin Throwers to Compete in Bengaluru
Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj started this season with a record-breaking throw. He threw 90.23m at the Doha Diamond League, which is his personal best. He also won the Paris Diamond League and Golden Spike meet in Ostrava. This will be his first event in India after the last Federation Cup. He is expected to give another big throw at the event that has been named after him.
Thomas Rohler
Germany’s Rohler won the Olympic gold medal in 2016. After an injury, his form has not been very strong. He has competed in three events this year and his throws were around 80m. His presence is important, but it will be tough for him to compete against top athletes like Neeraj.
Julius Yego
Yego is Africa’s most famous javelin thrower and a former world champion. Last year, he threw 87.72m in the final of the Paris Olympics. But this year, his average throw is around 83m. This will be his seventh event of the season.
Curtis Thompson
American thrower Thompson recorded his career-best of 87.76m in March. After that, he played five more events but did not throw beyond 82m. He has the talent, but he has not shown consistent performance at the top level yet.
Luiz Mauricio da Silva
Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio threw 86.62m at the Paris Diamond League, which is his personal best. This is the longest javelin throw by any South American athlete. He finished third behind Neeraj and Weber. He also won the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, where he beat top throwers like Peters and Yego.
Cyprian Mryzyglod
Cyprian was not in the original list, but he got invited after Anderson Peters dropped out due to injury. He threw his personal best of 85.92m in Finland’s Kuortane event. He came second at the Paavo Nurmi Games and came fourth at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial.
Rumesh Pathirage
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh threw 85.41m in Perth earlier this year. But at the Asian Athletics Championships, he could not finish in the top three. He threw 83.27m and finished fourth.
Martin Konecny
Czech athlete Martin threw his career-best of 80.59m this year at the Golden Spike meet. Neeraj won that meet. Martin has played seven events this year, but has thrown beyond 80m only once.
Sachin Yadav
India’s Sachin Yadav is now clearly the number two javelin thrower in the country. He came second at the Asian Championships with a throw of 85.16m. Nadeem came first in that event. Sachin also won the Federation Cup with a throw of 83.86m. His performance this year has been very good.
Rohit Yadav
Rohit was once seen as the next top javelin thrower from India, but injuries slowed him down. He has taken part in four events this year, and only crossed 80m once. That was at the National Games in Dehradun. He came seventh at the Federation Cup.
Yash Vir Singh
Yash Vir threw his best throw of 82.57m at the Asian Championships and finished fifth. He has improved this year. Out of five events, he crossed 80m twice.
Sahil Silwal
Left-handed thrower Sahil has played two events this year. He threw 73.10m at the Indian Open and 77.84m at the Federation Cup. His personal best is 81.81m, which he threw in June last year. He will try to repeat that performance in Bengaluru.
Players who withdrew
Anderson Peters from Grenada and Kishore Jena from India were supposed to take part in this event, but both have withdrawn due to injury.
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