Neeraj Chopra is defending champion while three Indian javelin throwers have made the cut through world ranking quota system
The 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships will be a good platform for Indian javelin throwers to showcase potential. The rising stature of the Indian javelin throwers came to fore at 2023 Budapest World Championships as three of them were in top six with Neeraj Chopra winning the title.
Four male javelin throwers are amongst the 19-member Indian team announced by Athletics Federation of India on Sunday.
Two years after Budapest, four male Indian javelin throwers will be seen in action at the September 13 to 21 Tokyo World Athletics Championships in Japan. While Neeraj Chopra is defending champion, three others namely Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav have qualified through world ranking quota system.
This is the second time four Indian javelin throwers have made the cut for the prestigious global athletics. At the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships, three Indians reached top six with Neeraj Chopra winning the title. Kishore Kumar Jena finished fifth and DP Manu sixth, respectively in the world class field. Both Kishore Kumar Jena and DP Manu are not in the fray due to different reasons, focus will be on the new crop of javelin throwers in Tokyo.
Rohit Yadav had to skip the Budapest competition due to injury. However, this time he is healthy and managed to book a berth for the global competition. Tokyo will be Rohit’s second. He had also competed at the 2022 Eugene World Championships.
Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold winning performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has no doubt revolutionized javelin in the country, and a new crop of throwers are hungry to showcase their potential at the bigger stage.
Coaches and experts considered Sachin Yadav having potential to excel at the world stage. “He (Sachin) has hurled the javelin beyond 88m in training. If he stays focused in Tokyo, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him finishing in the top three,” says senior national throwing coach Parveer Singh.
Sachin’s season and personal best of 85.16m was recorded on his way to silver at Gumi Asian meet in South Korea in May. Since May he has a couple of plus 80m throws under his belt. “He (Sachin) is fit and we expect him to improve his personal best in Tokyo,” says chief national athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair.
According to Adille Sumariwalla, spokesperson of AFI (Athletics Federation of India), the Tokyo bound Indian athletes should be able to repeat their season and personal best at the bigger stage will be good preparation for 2026 season. “A good performance in Japan will act as a catalyst for two major competitions in 2026—Commonwealth Games and Asian Games,” Sumariwalla says.
On Neeraj Chopra’s dip in performance graph since Doha Diamond League where he recorded 90.23m, Sumariwalla says he has tweaked his technique and not getting the right rhythm. At the just concluded Zurich Diamond League, Chopra finished second with 85.01m.
“There is enough time for him to polish his skills and showcase his potential in Japan,” Says Sumariwalla.
ENDS
