&w=3840&q=100)
Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 LIVE: Neeraj Chopra headlines event named after himself, eyes third consecutive title
Neeraj Chopra will be eyeing his third consecutive title at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic. Image: Neeraj Chopra on X
Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 LIVE : Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra headlines the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic which takes place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. The NC Classic, India's first international javelin event, also features some of the biggest names in the sport such as Germany's Thomas Rohler, the 2016 Olympic champion, as well as Kenya's Julius Yego and Brazil's Luiz Mauricio da Silva, ranked sixth and 10th respectively in the world. Follow our live blog for more updates.
The event will get underway about an hour from now. Stay tuned for more updates.
The event was originally scheduled to take place at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula in Chopra's home state of Haryana before getting moved out due to the lack of international standards at that venue.
The inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic will be taking place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, 5 July at 7 pm.
The inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic will be telecast on the Star Sports Network, and will be streamed live on the JioHotstar website and mobile application. You can also follow our live blog for the latest updates.
Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 LIVE Updates: Neeraj Chopra arrives as a strong favourite to win a third event on the trot in the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic that takes place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
After finishing runner-up at the Doha Diamond League meet despite breaching the 90-metre mark for the first time in his career, Chopra collected his first victory of the 2025 season in the next DL meet in Paris. That was followed by another victory, this time at the Golden Spike Ostrava event in Czech Republic.
Rohler, Yego among the leading names competing at inaugural NC Classic
And at the event named after himself where he dons a new hat – that of a co-organiser – he faces stiff competition from the likes of German javelin star Thomas Rohler, who had won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Some of the other international stars competing at the event are Kenya's Julius Yego and Brazil's Luiz Mauricio da Silva, ranked sixth and 10th respectively in the men's javelin throw world rankings.
Also invited to the event were Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem and Grenada's Anderson Peters, who had won gold and bronze respectively in last year's Paris Olympics with Chopra winning silver.
While Nadeem's name was withdrawn due to the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan that broke out after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, Peters withdrew three days before the event due to an injury.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
India 'A' men's hockey team leaves for Netherlands for upcoming tour of Europe
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 5 (ANI): The India 'A' Men's Hockey team left for Eindhoven, Netherlands on Saturday morning for the Tour of Europe, scheduled from July 8 to July 20, 2025. Led by Captain Sanjay and Vice-Captain Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, India 'A' will play eight matches in total across three cities in Europe. While India A will play two matches each against Ireland, France, and the Netherlands in Eindhoven (Netherlands), they will play one match each against England and Belgium in Amstelveen (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium), respectively, as per a press release from Hockey India. These matches are expected to test the depth and readiness of players as the national setup looks to build a stronger talent pool for the Indian senior team. The India 'A' Captain, Sanjay, said, 'This tour will be a good testing ground for us to know our strengths and weaknesses. We have a good mix of seasoned players and young players, and the tour will provide us with strong competition to assess where they stand. This kind of international exposure will also help us strengthen our main team in the future and create a good bench strength in the long run.' Vice-Captain Moirangthem added, 'The tour will help the team understand the different dynamics and intensity of playing against top European teams in Europe. This exposure will also help some of the younger players experience hockey at a much different pace than they are used to in India. We hope this exposure will help us and the next generation of players improve in the long run.' With this tour, Hockey India aims to bolster the talent pool for the Indian Men's national team and provide international match time to the next generation of Indian hockey stars. The first match between India 'A' and Ireland will take place on July 8 at 21:30 IST. (ANI)
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
"Thought I could throw better...": Neeraj after winning the inaugural NC Classic
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 5 (ANI): Following his win at the inaugural NC Classic at Bengaluru, India's world champion and Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra expressed his thoughts on his performance, happy with his win but not entirely satisfied with his throws. He also opened up on acting as both an organiser and athlete for the competition. Chopra took the top honours in the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic, a competition named after him at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. The reigning javelin throw champion stood triumphant with 86.18m in a competition named after him. Kenya's Julius Yego notched up his season best and settled for second with 84.51m. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage claimed the third position with a best throw of 84.34m. Speaking after the event in a press conference, Neeraj recalled that the last few days had been hard for him, given that he was both an athlete and the organiser of an event named after him. 'The last few days have been hard for me. It also made me feel a bit weird that the competition is in my name. I am happy that I can keep the medal and trophy from the first edition at home,' he said. Neeraj said that the people of Bengaluru also thoroughly enjoyed the event, and the support was very strong from the 'passionate' fans. Neeraj recalled that during the Doha Diamond League, he got a 'lot of headwinds', which made throws difficult, and it was the same case in Bengaluru. 'Technically, I made a mistake in the starting (starting off with a foul throw). I was going to the left. My coach told me to throw straight. There was a little technical problem. But it was good. I thought I could throw better. But I am happy that I won in the first edition. My biggest target was to make this competition successful,' he added. Neeraj felt that after two or three throws, he felt good and felt that one of his 84-m something throws was an 87-88 m throw. 'But if there is more wind and there is more height, then it stops the javelin. If I had thrown a little more, then it would have been 87-88 metres,' he added. 'But there was a lot of crowd, and there was a lot of support. There was a pressure when I was on the runway and was throwing. In the first throw, I was very enthusiastic and ran and threw. My coach, Jan Zelezny, showed me the video and told me to stay relaxed,' he added. Later, he thanked all the parties involved in the organisation of the competition. 'Thank you very much to everyone for coming here. And I did not expect that in the first edition, there would be such a good crowd and so much support. I thank the AFI (Athletics Federation of India), the World Athletics, who gave us a gold-level competition today.' 'This is a big thing for our country. And we were able to do so well, and I hope we will bring more competitions like this in the future. And thank you so much to every sponsor, the Karnataka government, and my JSW team, they are also working hard.' We were working day and night. So, there was a lot of help from everyone. I mean, I just wanted everyone to work like a team. So, I could see that. I mean, from the government, AFI, people came from the World Athletics, and the JSW, Karnataka government, I mean, everyone was giving us support,' he concluded. While some athletes came close to challenging Neeraj's supremacy, the Indian's finesse remained unmatched by the end of the tournament. Even though it wasn't another 90m outing for the 27-year-old, he stamped his authority by conquering the challenge that he encountered and ensured that he continued to stay inside the top two since June 26, 2021. In front of an ebullient crowd, India's Sahil Silwal, left-handed, kicked off the proceedings at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium. He let out a roar after releasing the javelin from his hand and registered a throw of 77.48m. Rohit Yadav, a World Championships finalist, recorded a distance of 77.11m. Neeraj fouled on his first attempt and got on the board with a throw of 82.99m. He raised his hand after releasing the javelin and got the crowd going. He went to the top of the standings, bettering the 81.90m attempt from Rumesh Pathirage of Sri Lanka. Yashvir Singh, who started the event with a foul attempt, struck a distance of 76.20m in his second try. At the same time, Sachin Yadav managed 77.30m in his second try after fouling his first. Rumesh momentarily added a twist to the script by reclaiming the top spot with 84.34m, forcing Neeraj to slip to second. However, his attempt sparked a competitive fire in Neeraj, who responded boldly by sending his javelin to a distance of 86.18m to move to the summit after his third attempt. The bottom four in the standings were bound to get eliminated after the first three throws. Rio Olympics champion Thomas Rohler, who struggled to get the desired distance, saw his run in the competition end with 75.85m being his best. Sahil, Rohit, and Martin Konecny fouled their third throws and crashed out of the race for the top spot. With the last eight competitors decided, Neeraj tried to improve his best effort but didn't achieve the distance or height he yearned for. He deliberately strayed past the white line to register his second foul throw at the event. 'Mr YouTube' Julius Yego had a beaming smile on his face after his fourth try. The Kenyan athlete struck his season-best distance with a splendid 84.51m. Sachin's situation didn't improve after 82.33m. With the crowd behind Neeraj clapping in rhythm, the two-time gold medallist didn't enhance his top distance but managed the sixth round, Curtis Thompson acknowledged the crowd after his final 81.50m throw and finished sixth in the standings. Sachin, an Asian silver medallist, had a disappointing outing and settled for the fourth spot after a foul in his last throw. Yego finished second with a strong 82.45 and turned towards the stands to acknowledge the crowd. Before Neeraj turned up for one final attempt, the top three were decided, along with his spot at the summit. With the crowd behind him, 82.22m flashed on the screen as Neeraj stood triumphant and kept his top-two streak intact on his home turf. (ANI)
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
"You deserve all of this": Gill earns plaudits from his predecessor Virat Kohli after match-defining exploits in Birmingham
New Delhi [India], July 5 (ANI): India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli had unstinting praise in store for Test captain Shubman Gill, who redefined the art of batting with a record-shattering hundred in the second innings of the second Test against England at Edgbaston. At a venue where India is yet to register its maiden Test win, Gill led from the front following his memorable 269(387) in the first innings and then topped it up with a flamboyant 161(162) in his second turn to rescript the history books on the fourth day. Gill, who etched his name with golden words while batting at number four, earned plaudits from his predecessor, Virat, who made the position his own during his 14-year-long stint. 'Well played, star boy. Rewriting history. Onwards and upwards from here. You deserve all of this,' Virat wrote on Instagram. Gill's prowess reflected in the sizzling numbers he garnered throughout his endeavours on the crease. With a whopping 430 runs across both innings, Gill has the second-highest aggregate of runs in a single Test, behind England's Graham Gooch, who had an output of 456 runs after scoring 333 and 123 against India at Lord's back in 1990. Gill became the second batter to register 150-plus scores in both innings of a Test after Allan Border (150* & 153) against Pakistan in Lahore in 1980. Gill's outing is also the first instance of a 250-plus and 150-plus score in a Test by a batter. The 25-year-old is only the second Indian, after Gavaskar, to hit a double century and a century in the same Test, scoring 124 and 220 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 1971. Other batters having achieved this feat include Australia's KD Walters, West Indies RG Lowe, Australia's Greg Chappell, England's Gooch, WI icon Lara, Sri Lanka's Sangakkara and Australia's Marnus Labuschagne. He has outdone ex-skipper and legendary batter Virat (243 and 50) to have the highest aggregate by an Indian captain in a Test match. Virat's effort came against Sri Lanka at his home stadium, Arun Jaitley Stadium, back in December 2017. Gill is the second Asian batter with 350-plus aggregate in a Test outside the subcontinent after Pakistan's Hanif Mohammad (354: 17 and 337) at Bridgetown in 1958. (ANI)
