The much-anticipated javelin showdown between India’s Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won’t happen, as Chopra has pulled out of the Silesia Diamond League 2025 scheduled for August 16, while Nadeem is also missing from the event’s official entry list in Poland.
The Silesia Diamond League event organizers initially revealed in early July that two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj and gold medallist Nadeem will be competing. However, Nadeem’s surgery on his right calf in London last month cast doubt on the highly anticipated face-off.
Salman Butt, Nadeem’s coach, suggested that it was doubtful the gold medallist from the Paris Olympics would participate in the Diamond League competition. “He (Nadeem) is more focused on preparing for the World Championships in Tokyo in September, which is why he decided to have the surgery on his calf muscle, which had been bothering him for a while now,” coach Salman Butt had said.
Now that Neeraj has left the tournament without giving a clear explanation, the India-Pakistan match has ended in a shambles.
Neeraj’s 2025 season has been amazing. In April, he won the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, to start the year. In May, he finished second in the Doha Diamond League, setting a new national record of 90.23 meters. But more importantly, he joined the elite 90m club.
Later same month, he finished second at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland, but he got back to winning ways in June at the Paris Diamond League with an effort of 88.16 meters. In the men’s javelin throw, Neeraj also regained the top spot in the world by winning the Ostrava Golden Spike title.
Neeraj then went on to win the NC Classic in India, which was held in his honor and was named after him.
It is anticipated that Neeraj and Nadeem will compete at the World Athletics Championships 2025, which will take place in Tokyo, Japan, next month.
