Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem withdrew from the men’s javelin final event in Asian Games 2023.
New Delhi: Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal chances at the ongoing Asian Games 2023 brightened up after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem withdrew from the men’s javelin event final on Tuesday. The men’s javelin event final is scheduled to take place on October 4 at 4:35 PM IST with Nadeem touted as the biggest threat to Neeraj.
Nadeem, who finished second to Neeraj in the previous edition in Jakarta five years ago, was carrying a knee injury, an MRI scan revealed. Unlike in the European competitions, Nadeem was Neeraj’s biggest threat other than fellow Kishore Jena.
The rivalry between the India-Pakistan duo started in 2016 South Asian Games and has grabbed more eyeballs in recent times. Both the athletes shared the podium at the World Athletics Championships with Neeraj pipping his Pakistani rival for gold medal.
Nadeem, who won a gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, had a season-best throw of 87.82 metres. Neeraj’s best throw in this season was 88.77m.