Neeraj hopes for good start in Karlstad

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Finally, after much trepidation and uncertainty, Neeraj Chopra will be steaming out when he competes at the Karlstad Grand Prix in Sweden on Tuesday. The journey to Karlstad had not been easy. The 23-year-old javelin thrower had to make a pit stop in Lisbon for a mediocre meet before heading to Sweden.

It will just be his second tournament in over a year and he has been yearning for bigger exposure. Though Karlstad does have entries but as of now, throwers from Sweden make a majority of the chunk. And their records are not impressive. Going by the entry list, Neeraj Chopra is expected to win comfortably. His closest competitor Sindri Hrafn Guðmundsson has a best of 80.91m against Neeraj’s 88.07m. Neeraj is one of the medal hopes in athletics but for him getting a run of tournaments before the Olympics was very important. He had to miss the Madrid meet because of late arrival in Europe but now after some good practice sessions in Lisbon before moving to Sweden on June 19, he is ready to roll.

“Everything is fine as of now,” he told this daily on Monday. “Training was quite satisfactory and I hope the competition will be good.” The weather has been a little different from Portugal but he is getting used to it. “I am getting acclimatised and looking forward to the two-three competitions that I will take part in before the Olympics,” he said. “Main target is Olympics and getting these competitions are crucial.”

After Karlstad, his next event on the list — Kuortane GP – promises to bring out the best with a mouth-watering field. Some of the biggest names are in the entry list. One among them is Johannes Vetter who has already breached the 96m mark this season. World champion Anderson Peters and Trinidadian Keshorn Walcott with a best of 90.16 too are listed. However, the two are yet to hurl the spear beyond Neeraj’s mark of 88.07m this season.