Neeraj Chopra Classic to be now held on July 5 in Bengaluru

AFTER being postponed due to the India-Pakistan military conflict last month, the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic international javelin throw event will be held in Bengaluru on July 5, the organizers announced on Tuesday (3).

India's first-ever international javelin throw competition is being organized by double Olympic-medallist Chopra in collaboration with JSW Sports and sanctioned by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

The star-studded 12-man event, to be held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, will feature seven of the best javelin throwers in the world and five Indians, including Chopra.

The other four Indians are Asian championships silver-medallist Sachin Yadav, Kishore Jena, Rohit Yadav and Sahil Silwal.

The foreign competitors for the event are two-time world champion Anderson Peters (personal best: 93.07m) of Grenada, 2016 Olympics gold winner Thomas Rohler (93.90m) of Germany, 2015 world champion Julius Yego (92.72m) of Kenya, American Curtis Thompson (87.76m), Asian Games bronze medallist Genki Dean (84.28m) of Japan, Rumesh Pathirage (85.45m) of Sri Lanka, Luiz Mauricio da Silva (86.34m) of Brazil.

Chopra had on May 16 breached the 90-meter barrier for the first time by scoring his personal best of 90.23m at the Doha leg of the Diamond League.

"Bringing the Neeraj Chopra Classic back this quickly has taken an enormous collective effort, and we're happy to confirm its return on July 5," said JSW Sports Chief Commercial Officer Karan Yadav.

He thanked the AFI for its "unwavering support" and the Karnataka Olympic Association, Karnataka Government and their partners for making it possible.

The event, which was granted category A status by World Athletics, was shifted to the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru from the original venue of Panchkula due to inadequate lighting for live telecast.

A 'dream project' of Chopra, it was announced with much fanfare and originally scheduled for May 24.

But the event had to be postponed due to the border tensions after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists.

In the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack, Chopra and his family were trolled on social media for inviting Paris Games gold medalist Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan for the event.

Chopra was deeply hurt to see his and his family’s integrity being questioned in abusive social media posts. (PTI)