Asian Games 2018 | It is a great honour for me to lead the Indian contingent , says Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra, one of India's brightest medal prospects, has top class credentials by virtue of being the first Indian to win a gold medal at a World Championships 2016. His journey began at the South Asian games 2016 where he won a gold and equalled the Indian national record. He also won a gold at the 2016 IAAF world U20 championships in Poland. His glory continued in 2017 when he won a gold at the Asian athletic championship with a throw of 85.23m. Neeraj has maintained his fine form this year, consistently throwing the javelin beyond the 85m mark and also has set a new national record of 87.43 at the Doha Diamond League in May. In fact, the five best throws by an Asian athlete this year are all to his name. He registered the season best at the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 86.47m , which made Neeraj only the first Indian javelin thrower to win that competition. 

Amongst his competitors in Jakarta is Chinese Taipei’s Chao Tsun-Cheng, who holds the Asian record of 91.36m. However Cheng has been very inconsistent and has failed to produce his best throw when it has mattered most. At the Asian Championships last year, there had been great expectations from Cheng but he only managed to take sixth place with an effort of 80.03m. At that competition it was Neeraj who had romped to the gold medal with a throw of 85.23m. 

Neeraj flew directly to Jakarta from Finland, where he was training with National javelin coach Uwe Hohn of Germany.

“These three-four months in Europe have been very productive and I got a chance to compete in a lot of competitions in between. I am feeling good and as I said, my only target is give my best in Jakarta,” Neeraj said.