NEW DELHI: India’s javelin star Neeraj Chopra said Saturday that missing out on Olympic gold hurt, but the injury-hit athlete eyes bigger returns in upcoming competitions.
The 26-year-old won silver in Paris after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won gold with an Olympic record of 92.97 meters in the javelin final.
Chopra, who made history in 2020 Tokyo Olympics with India’s first ever Olympic track and field gold, threw further in Paris with 89.45 meters — not too far off his personal best of 89.94m.
“There is no comparison with a gold medal,” Chopra told reporters by phone from Switzerland, where he is training for upcoming tournaments.
“Winning back-to-back medals for your nation is good and taking a lap of the ground with your country’s flag is always a wonderful feeling,” he added.
“But the national anthem playing when your flag goes up with you on top of the podium was missing.”
However, he said he was pleased with his silver.
“We have to accept what we have,” he said. “I am happy with what I got.”
Chopra built on his breakout success in Tokyo by winning world championship gold last year, but missed a few competitions due to a groin injury.
But the well-built star, who hails from the northern Indian state of Haryana — a nursery of athletes including Olympic wrestlers and boxers, remains confident of future success.
“I believed that I could cover more distance,” Chopra said on his mindset after Nadeem’s monster throw in Paris.
But Chopra said he will not set himself targets of 90 meters and more.
“I leave this to God. Just prepare well, and give it a rip, the javelin will travel,” he said.
Chopra became a national hero after his Tokyo gold, earning million-dollar endorsement deals with his boyish charm, changing hairstyles and an infectious smile.
However, Pakistan’s Nadeem shot to overnight stardom after his throw gave his nation’s their first individual Olympic gold.
Nadeem’s father-in-law gifted him a buffalo for the Olympic feat.
But Chopra isn’t surprised, saying he had been given a large container of ghee, or clarified butter.
“In Indian villages... gifts such as buffaloes, motorbikes and tractors are common,” he said.
India’s Chopra eyes bigger returns after losing Olympic gold to Pakistan’s Nadeem
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India’s Chopra eyes bigger returns after losing Olympic gold to Pakistan’s Nadeem
- Chopra missed out on gold after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem threw javelin at record distance of 92.97 meters
- The athlete made history in 2020 Tokyo Olympics by winning India’s first-ever track and field gold medal
Rublev marches on, Bublik and Draper fall at Dubai Tennis Championships
- No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev, the 2022 champion, dispatches Ugo Humbert in epic three setter 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3
- Tallon Griekspoor upsets No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets to set-up quarterfinal clash with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik
DUBAI: Andrey Rublev signaled his determination to reclaim the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title on Wednesday, as the ruthless Russian dispatched fellow former champion Ugo Humbert in a titanic, three-set tussle on center court.
As a two-time finalist in Dubai and the winner there in 2022, Rublev already has fond memories of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Meanwhile Humbert, who has also tasted success in Dubai having edged Alexander Bublik to the title in 2024, was looking to tame a second former winner in the space of 24 hours after eliminating reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday.
In the early stages of the match a smattering of vocal young fans stirred up an endless cacophony of noise from all four grandstands as the near-capacity crowd repeatedly serenaded both players with cries of “Let’s go, Andrey” and “Allez, Ugo,” the even split among the supporters mirroring the evenly matched contest.
The nail-biter of a match went with serve for the first six games before, as is so often the case in professional tennis, the seventh proved to be a critical turning point. Rublev took advantage of two break points afforded by a pair of uncharacteristic double-faults by Humbert to achieve what Tsitsipas had failed to do in the entirety of their Round of 32 clash: he broke the Frenchman.
The set then resettled into a familiar pattern as the pair once again held serve amid minimal threats. And so, after 41 minutes of the back-and-forth, Rublev claimed the opening set 6-4 courtesy of that sole break of serve.
The second set mirrored the first, this time with both players avoiding a break of serve, until Humbert, the current world No. 37, narrowly edged the tiebreak 7-5 to even the match.
With very little separating the battling duo at this point, their seesaw duel was akin to two prize fighters exchanging punches with neither able to land a decisive blow. Buoyed no doubt by the feverish support from their respective fans, both players refused to buckle.
But then, with the third set tied at 1-1, Rublev held serve, broke and held again to win three straight games and move 4-1 ahead. The match then, predictably, once again went with serve until it was 5-3.
Then Humbert, facing the prospect of elimination, suddenly found himself with two break points as his opponent wobbled while serving for the match. The steely Russian held his nerve, however, and dispatched a trio of massive serves, including two aces, to reverse the deficit and set up his first match-point.
That was all the 28-year-old needed, as another huge serve forced a Humbert error and sealed the match 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
“It was a very dramatic ending,” Rublev said. “I’m really happy I was able to keep going and save the last game.
“It’s difficult to close a match; you can make a double-fault or a mistake, but I made three good serves and that helped me a lot. It’s much easier to win points from the serve than playing rallies every time.”
He commended his opponent, saying: “Ugo played really well. I took my two break chances but he served unbelievably all match. He shoots super hard and very fast, so it’s not easy to do something. I had to be ready for the one chance to break him in a set, and I got those chances and was able to do it.
“This match gives me a lot of confidence, so we’ll see what will happen in the quarterfinal. I’m playing well, so let’s see.”
Rublev now faces another Frenchmen, Arthur Rinderknech, who emerged victorious from a grueling three-set marathon against the British No. 4 seed, Jack Draper, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
Their match, which finished well after midnight and with an eerie mist hovering over center court, yielded only two breaks of serve, both of which went Rinderknech’s way. Despite the defeat, Draper can head home with his head held high as his return to top-level tennis continues after a six-month injury layoff.
On the new court 1, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands pulled off the biggest upset of the day by taming No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. The win earned the world No. 25 a quarterfinal encounter with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, who made short work of the Australian, Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2.
