World Athletics C’Ships: Neeraj Chopra to lead 28-member Indian squad in Budapest

Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra will lead India’s campaign in the World Athletics Championships starting on August 19 in Budapest, Hungary. Announced by the Athletics Federation of India on Tuesday, the 28-member squad will also include the likes of Diamond League bronze medallist Murali Sreeshankar and current Worlds season leader Jeswin Aldrin for long jump, 100m hurdles national record holder Jyothi Yarraji and Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase).

Reigning Diamond League champion Chopra had previously won silver in the last edition in Eugene, US, in 2022. He has won two Diamond League Meetings this season – in Doha on May 5 and Lausanne on June 30.

The 25-year-old, who had missed three top competitions between the two Diamond League Meetings due to a muscle strain sustained while training, is currently training at Magglingen in Switzerland.

His season’s best is the 88.67m in Doha, the third longest throw this season behind 89.51m of Jakub Vadlajch of Czech Republic and 88.72m of Julian Weber of Germany.

Talented long jumper Shaili, who qualified through world ranking quota, will leave for Budapest this weekend, while javelin throwers D P Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena are expected to join the team next week, as reported by PTI.

India were to field four men’s javelin throwers as Chopra had qualified as wild card by virtue of...

Read more