Neeraj Chopra Pleased With His Comeback

New Delhi: Having made a successful comeback to international competition, Neeraj Chopra said on Saturday he was satisfied with his effort at the Doha Diamond League the previous evening and is looking forward to the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in September-October.

Chopra was coming back from injury and was competing after nine months in Doha on Friday. He finished fourth with a best throw of 85.69m. The two-time Olympic medallist looked competitively sharp at the Qatar Sports Club. With the performance he confirmed selection for next month’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The Asian Games is in September-October when he will be chasing his third straight title.

On Saturday, he was in New Delhi to attend the inaugural Indian Athletics Awards of the Athletics Federation of India.

“It always feels good to compete and I was coming back after a long time. It was a good comeback and I am excited looking ahead at the season,” Chopra, 28, said at the awards ceremony.

Chopra was named the Best Male Athlete while woman 3,000m steeple chase and 5,000m runnr Parul Chaudhary received the Best Female Athlete accolade.

In Doha, where Neeraj achieved his personal best of 90.23m last season, he started with a foul before a 82.77m in his second attempt guaranteed him Commonwealth Games qualification. The third throw was his best, showing he was getting back to his best by throwing 85.69m. He also had a throw of 83.45m.

Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, the rising star, took top honours after a big fourth throw of 88.68m. Grenada’s Anderson Peters came second (86.38m) and USA’s Curtis Thompson was third (85.99m). Rumesh and Peters will be at the CWG as well.

Chopra, recalling his starting years, said he has always chased excellence and that Jan Zelezny was his role model because he was the world record holder. Czech javelin great Zelezny was Chopra’s coach last year and guided him to surpassing the 90m barrier before they parted ways.

“When I started javelin I didn’t know much about the sport but I started following world record holder Zelezny because he was the best in the world. Today I know I chose a good role model. I have already thrown beyond 90m.”

Chopra’s message to youngsters was to that they must believe in their abilities.

“Have patience and belief in yourself. You should also save yourself from injuries. We always believe Europe and USA athletes are stronger but we have the capability to perform well on the international stage and we are showing that,” said the double Olympic and world championships medallist.

At a glitzy function, AFI’s Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, PT Usha, Bahadur Singh and Anju Bobby George.