Chopra up against Weber again in Poland after 90m duel in Doha

Chorzow, Poland: The coveted 90m frontier finally breached in Doha last week, Neeraj Chopra will be eying an even bigger throw in yet another top-class men's javelin field at the ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet here on Friday.

Chopra sent his spear to 90.23m at the Doha Diamond League though he had to settle for a second-place finish after German Julian Weber produced a 91.06m effort in his last attempt to upstage the Indian. It was also Weber's maiden 90m throw.

Weber, an European champion in 2022 and silver-medallist in 2024, will be there in Poland too along with two-time world champion Anderson Peters (PB: 93.07m) of Grenada, who finished third in Doha with a throw of 84m.

Polish national record holder Marcin Krukowski (PB: 89.55m) and compatriots Cyprian Mrzyglod (PB: 84.97m) and Dawid Wegner (PB: 82.21m), Andrian Mardare (86.66m) of Moldova and Ukraine's Artur Felfner (PB: 84.32m) complete the eight-man field.

Since crossing 88m in 2018, the 90m-mark has been on the 27-year-old Chopra's radar. Relieved that the monkey is finally off his back, Chopra made it clear that "it was just the beginning" and he will be gunning for farther distances in the long season ahead.

The climax of the season will be the World Championships in September in Tokyo where he will be defending his title.

He is no longer troubled by the groin niggle that affected his performance in the last few years. He is also much more confident after roping in the iconic Jan Zelezny, who holds the world record for longest throw.

"I and my coach are still working on some aspects of my throw. I am still learning things. We started working together only in February this year," Chopra had said in Doha.

"So I believe I can have more 90m throws and I can throw farther distances in the upcoming events this year till the World Championships.

"I was always feeling something in my groin in the last few years. I did not give my best because of that. This year I feel much better." Chopra was earlier slated to compete in the inaugural NC Classic — an event to be hosted by him on May 24 in Bengaluru — alongside several global and Indian stars. But the event was postponed in the wake of military confrontation between India and Pakistan.

The event in Poland will be the third competition for Chopra this season. He started in South Africa at the Potch Invitational Track event -- a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger competition -- in Potchefstroom on April 16, emerging on top with a modest throw of 84.52m.

ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial is a World Athletics Continental Tour silver event. It is the oldest continuously held track and field meeting in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe.

Since the first edition in 1954, organised on the initiative of friends of the legendary Olympic champion runner Janusz Kusocinski, the event has attracted the biggest names in the world of track and field.

After this event, Chopra is also set to compete at the Golden Spike 2025 athletics meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 24, hoping to be third time lucky after pulling out in the last two editions due to injuries.