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India and Pakistan compete not only in cricket but also in other sports. Whenever there is any kind of match between India and Pakistan, other countries are also interested in it apart from the two countries. Something similar was seen at the World Athletics Championships 2023. Javelin throw saw a gold medal battle between Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem and India’s Neeraj Chopra.
Earlier in world athletics we have seen the rivalry between India’s Milkha Singh and Pakistan’s Abdul Khaliq in the 1960s. The same kind of thing is happening now with Neeraj and Nadeem. However, India’s javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is way ahead of his Pakistani rival as he has won gold medals in Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Diamond League and World Athletics Championships.
Although Arshad’s medal or trophy cabinet is not as large as Neeraj’s, he is the first Pakistani athlete to win a medal at the World Championships, with silver and Neeraj a historic gold. Neeraj had a best throw of 88.17m and Arshad threw the javelin at 87.82m. Nadeem won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year. This gold medal has come in 60 years for Pakistan.
Both players may have won major tournaments, but when it comes to head to head, Neeraj Chopra is way ahead of Arshad Nadeem. The two have faced each other nine times in international events, seven times at the senior level and twice at the junior level. Surprisingly, Neeraj Chopra has a 9-0 lead over Nadeem. In such a situation, the rivalry between the two is one-sided.
The two faced each other for the first time in 2016 at the South Asian Games in Guwahati. Meanwhile, Neeraj won gold and Nadeem won bronze medals. While Neeraj dominated the overall numbers, Arshad has been coming close to the Indian giant’s performance since 2018 and could pose a major threat to his Olympic supremacy in Paris next year. Nadeem’s best is taller than Neeraj and he has crossed the 90m mark.
Arshad Nadeem threw 90.12 meters in Commonwealth Games 2022. Neeraj Chopra did not play in the tournament due to injury. Nadeem defeated Anderson Peters of Grenada. Nadeem was the second South Asian player to cross the 90m mark. While Neeraj is yet to touch the coveted 90m mark, his personal best of 89.94m at the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden is also a national record.
A look at Neeraj-Arshad’s rivalry according to statistics
