Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem stats as IND, PAK reach Olympics Javelin Throw Final

Indian Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra announced his debut at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in some style by qualifying for the Javelin Throw final in his very first attempt. Chopra was placed in Group A and had to achieve the qualification mark of 83.50 to progress to the next round. Neeraj Chopra who was throwing the javelin in 15th position in the group. He threw a monstrous throw of 86.65m and automatically qualified for the finals after just his first attempt. Another Indian athlete Shivpal Singh will also be in action in the Javelin throw event.

As Neeraj Chopra eyes gold in Saturday's final, he will be up against another great athlete from the neighboring country i.e. Pakistan, Arshad Nadeem. Without further ado, let's take a look at how the Indian athlete and his Pakistani counterpart have fared when it comes to their overall head-to-head encounters.

Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem stats

As Neeraj Chopra looks forward to rewriting history with a podium finish for India in athletics, he has a fierce rival in the form of Arshad Nadeem. Recently, the Pakistani javelin thrower had called Neeraj Chopra his role model but the friendship and mutual respect will take a backseat come Saturday evening when both competitors would be hoping to finish at the top of the podium.

At the 2016 South Asian Games that were hosted in India, Neeraj Chopra went on to strike gold, whereas, Arshad Nadeem finished as the bronze medalist. At the Asian Games that year, Neeraj Chopra once again won the gold medal as his Pakistani rival got one better on that occasion with a silver medal finish. Meanwhile, Nadeem went on to clinch gold at the 2019 South Asian Games .

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Javelin throw finals

Coming back to the Tokyo Olympics 2020 men's javelin throw finals, all eyes will be on Neeraj Chopra to deliver India's elusive Olympic medal in athletics and end a wait of 100 years on Saturday. Chopra's qualification for the finals will go down as one of the best performances by an Indian athlete in the Olympics. He finished ahead of gold-medal favorite and 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany and now is considered as the favorite to win India's maiden track-and-field medal at the Olympic Games.