Neeraj Chopra Says He Has Always Beaten Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem But His Fight Is With Himself At Asian Games 2023

Neeraj Chopra will be in action at the Asian Games 2023 on October 4. He is a defending champion at Asiad having won the gold in men's javelin at Jakarta 2018.

Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem. (Source: X)

The one thing that stands out in Neeraj Chopra, like every star athlete, is his clarity of thought. Neeraj is a realist who puts things as in and does not try to hide behind behind failures. Neeraj was quite clear on his competition with Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, who had clinched a silver medal at World Championships recently. Neeraj was the gold medallist at the Worlds. The rivalry between the two is quite healthy but Neeraj has won every time he has played with Arshad.

The 25-year-old athlete says his biggest competition at the world events is himself. Speaking about Arshad, Neeraj said, "Whenever Arshad has played with me, I have won. But the focus is always on giving my best, not on who is playing against me. In athletics, you compete with yourself and push yourself to do your best. Yes there is some focus on India and Pakistan at the Asian Games as there are no European athletes, but my fight is against myself, I have to better my technique and throw. Rest, we will see," said Neeraj to the media in Hangzhou.

19th Asian Games Hangzhou ___ pic.twitter.com/TQAEun1mGj

— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) September 29, 2023

The one question that Neeraj keeps getting from the media is when is he crossing the 90m mark. He has achieved everything in the men's javelin including a Olympics gold but the 90m mark remains an elusive target. His best throw so far is 89.94m which he achieved last year. Neeraj says that he is very close to it but is not in any hurry to breach that mark. "I am very close to it. I want to hit that throw myself. I believe in the process. Whenever it will happen, it will happen. I am not in a hurry. I am happy with my consistent performances, this is my main focus," said Neeraj.

Neeraj is looking forward to defending his gold medal at the Hangzhou Games. He is the favourite to win. The big stadium makes him more excited ahead of the event. The crowd supports him and the chants works wonder for his confidence. Neeraj will hope to get his best throw out in the first attempt itself on October 4 when the men's javelin final are held.