CHENNAI: Neeraj Chopra had been struggling with niggles and injuries for quite some time and his pullout seems to have become a new side of his constant struggle with pain and triumph. Ever since his silver medal finish at the Olympics in Paris two years ago, the double Olympic and world championships medallist has been struggling with one injury or the other. The latest comes just days ahead of the Asian Games in Nagoya from September 19 to October 4.
There is every possibility that Yash Vir Singh may replace Neeraj Chopra though his name was not there in the first list of athletes approved by the sports ministry. The 28-year-old announced through a social media post that he would be pulling out of the Asian Games due to injury to his ankle (ligament tear during training). And that too after recording his season's best of 88.05m just a few days ago at the Lausanne Diamond League. “After a period of hard work, I finally felt I was gaining the momentum I had been looking for with a Season Best throw (of 88.05m) in Lausanne (Diamond League),” he stated in an Instagram post announcing his withdrawal from participating this season. Former world and Olympic champion said that "it’s disappointing, especially because I felt close to finding my rhythm. But as they say, setbacks are a part of the journey". If he had an adductor issue during the Paris Games two years ago, he had an ankle and shoulder issue this year. Just before the Doha DL, he had said,
"In our lives, we have this injury and we try to save that injury and then we have another one. I injured my ankle and somewhere in the shoulder then I sat together with my team, my physio to find a remedy." And now, Neeraj has said that his focus would be "on recovering well and coming back even stronger".
Even with his exit from the Asian Games, India would still be a potent force at the Games with Rohit Yadav recently hurling the javelin to 87.68m in Bhubaneswar last week. After Rumesh Pathiraga, who breached the 90-m mark again two days ago at Zurich, Rohit's is third best by a javelin thrower in Asia. Another thrower who made his mark at the Commonwealth Games this year was Yash Vir who finished with bronze behind Neeraj. Pathirage won gold with 89.75m in Glasgow.
Athletics Federation of India spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla said that they have to live with this. “What can anyone do if someone is injured?” he said. “Neeraj has been injury free for so long in a sport like javelin and has won so many medals. Fortunately just as he injured his elbow covid came and he got time to recover and since then he has been competing and raised the standard exponentially.”
Sumariwalla said that Yash Vir who won a medal at the Commonwealth Games is his automatic replacement and the name has been forwarded to the sports ministry. “He should be there in Japan,” he said, adding that India have enough depth in javelin to win more than one medal at the Asian Games. The other challenger, Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem too is struggling with injury and India have a very good chance of winning two medals in Nagoya.
