‘Doha is famous for 90m throws’: Neeraj Chopra hints at big throw in season-opening Doha Diamond League

After a stellar 2022 season where Neeraj Chopra bagged a World Championship silver, came agonisingly close to breaching the 90m mark and ended the year becoming the first Indian to win a Diamond League title in Zurich, the Olympic champion opens his season with the Doha Diamond League on Friday.
The field at the elite meet in Doha will feature the best. Granada’s two-time World Champion Anderson Peters will be among the favourites to win. It also features the seasoned throwers like former World Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medall Julius Yego and 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott.
Neeraj Chopra is fresh from a month-long training stint in Turkey under coach and biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz. After picking up a groin injury during last year’s World Championships, where he became only the second athlete to win a medal after Anju Bob George, Neeraj has been extra careful with his workload.
Neeraj took part in just six competitions last season, five of which were in June and July, but showed great consency. He breached the 88m mark atleast six times, including three 89m plus throws. Since his Olympic triumph, Neeraj has not participated on Indian soil and has trained mostly overseas to avoid dractions.
Ahead of the Doha meet, a confident Neeraj did not shy away from the perennial 90m question. But this is perhaps the first time that he has given a clear indicator that he might go after the golden mark.
“The most important thing is that Doha is famous for 90m throws and hopefully, tomorrow will be a great result for all,” said Neeraj at the pre-competitions press meet, hinting that a big throw might be up his sleeve.
Neeraj also talked about competing against the best.
“It always helps to have good competitors. It is my first competition of the season and Yukub has already thrown 88m in Potchefstroom (South Africa) so I think tomorrow will be a great competition,” said Neeraj.
With a packed athletics calendar that includes the World Championships and Asian Games, Neeraj would be keen to set the ball rolling at Doha but will be cautious of not overdoing it.
“Right now, I’m slowly getting into that competition mindset. It’s been so long since I last competed (Neeraj’s last competition was the Diamond League finals in Zurich last September); so that competitive mindset has fizzled out. Now, because there are only a few days left for the Doha event, I will go back to that mindset. But because it’s my first competition after a long time, it’s going to take some time to return,” he had said during a media interaction in April.
Despite his busy training and competition schedule, Neeraj makes it a point to keep an eye on the progress of his fellow athletes. Ahead of the Asian Indoors meet earlier this year, triple jumper Praveen Chitravel was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from Neeraj. The short interaction boosted Chitravel’s confidence who eventually went on to win a silver at the meet in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.
“A lot more junior athletes are coming up in javelin and other sports. Hopefully, we will win more medals in the Olympics and other big events in the coming years. The jumpers are also doing really well,” he said.
There was also a cricket reference. ”Cricket is very popular in India. Indian bowlers are also really good. They have a really fast arm. In javelin also, we need a fast arm, so it is naturally trained in India. This is also a plus point for us,” he said before he was asked if would join the IPL after finishing javelin. “It is also a physically demanding sport. And they have rules on rotating your shoulder. If you could bowl like we throw the javelin then I will think of joining cricket,” Neeraj joked.
The big guns
Jakub Vadlejch (PB-90.88m): The Czech World championship medall finished behind Neeraj in Tokyo for the silver medal. He is in top form and is the season’s world leader with an 88.38m throw.
Anderson Peters (PB 93.07): Two-time world champion is a power-thrower who beat Neeraj for the top spot in Eugene World Championships last year. He is yet to get the ball rolling this season and Doha could be a good opportunity.
Julius Yego (92.72): Julius also known as “Mr Youtube”, since he honed his skills watching videos on the internet, is one of the most experienced athletes on the circuit. Yego, now 34, is past his prime but the 2015 World Champions and Rio silver medall will not go down without a fight.
Keshorn Walcott (PB 90.16): The Trinidadian star was just 19 when he won gold at the London Games. Yet to open the season, the 30-year-old ended 2022 with a best throw of 89.07m.
Julian Weber (PB 89.54): European champion Julian Weber has fought hard to emerge out of the shadows of his compatriots Thomas Rohler and Johannes Vetter. His 89.54m was the fourth best in the world last season.