Adille Sumariwalla, chairperson of the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) selection committee, revealed on Saturday that Indian javelin thrower superstar Neeraj Chopra will compete in the Asian Games in Japan in September and October in an attempt to reclaim the title.
Chopra began the season late in the Doha Diamond League, when he finished fourth with a throw of 85.69 meters while recuperating from a lower back ailment he had suffered prior to the Tokyo World Championships in September 2025.
The 28-year-old two-time Olympic medalist has previously stated that he will compete in the Commonwealth Games, but he hasn’t made it clear that he will compete in the Asian Games, which will take place in Aichi-Nagoya from September 19 to October 4.
“Yes. He (Chopra) will participate both in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. He has qualified already and he is recovering. He has done 86m (85.69m) in his very first event, which is fantastic,” Sumariwalla told PTI in an exclusive interview.
“He won a gold with 88m (in 2022 Asian Games in China), so he is already close to 86m, then we see no reason why he will not do well in both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.”
On Sunday, the final day of the current National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, the AFI’s selection committee is anticipated to announce the Indian team for the Asian Games.
With a throw of 88.88 meters, Chopra earned gold in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, a rising star from Sri Lanka who broke the 90-meter mark earlier this year and won two Diamond League titles, including one in Doha where Chopra came fourth, is anticipated to take on Chopra in Aichi-Nagoya.
The Asian Games men’s javelin throw will be fiercely competitive because Arshad Nadeem, the Olympic winner from Pakistan, may also compete. Nadeem is the current champion of both the Asian and Commonwealth Games. However, on June 19, after his name was first revealed by the organizers, he withdrew from the Doha Diamond League.
However, the AFI has left it up to Chopra to decide whether or not he wants to compete in any events before to the Commonwealth Games, which will take place in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2. Chopra was previously included in the 32-person Indian Commonwealth Games squad.
“We have left it to him (about competition before CWG), we are saying his medical team, his coach, everyone will sit together and work out which are the best competitions he needs to compete,” said Sumariwalla, a former president of the AFI and currently a vice president of World Athletics.
“The important thing was for him to qualify, which he did. Now the important thing is that how do we make him peak at the Commonwealth Games as well as in the Asian Games.”
