World Athletics C'ships LIVE: Neeraj vs Arshad showdown in javelin throw final

Today's schedule at the World Athletics Championships

Women's 5000m Heats (3:35pm)
Women's High Jump Qualification (3:45pm)
Men's Javelin Throw (3:53pm)
Women's 800m Heats (4:28pm)
Women's Triple Jump Final (5:25pm)
Men's 200m semi-final (5:32pm)
Women's 200m semi-final (5:54pm)
Men's 800m semi-final (6:15pm)
Men's 400m final (6:40pm)
Women's 400m final (6:54pm)

Neeraj Chopra after qualifying: "I feel really good that I achieved automatic qualification in first round. Tomorrow is the main day. This is the main competition of the year," Chopra said.

"I feel good coming into World Championships. I crossed 90m this year and am working on my technique with coach Jan Zelezny. I just need to stay healthy and focussed for final. I am ready."

Regarding his recent competition break, Chopra explained: "I did my training because I did not train enough and I feel like okay I need some training. I did not feel okay I am ready for competition. That is why I took some time and I trained for the DL Finals."

Chopra, who finished second to Nadeem at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was the first thrower in Group A qualification. The 27-year-old Indian achieved the automatic qualification mark of 84.50m with minimal effort.

Nadeem's qualification journey was more dramatic. The Pakistani thrower, who had undergone knee surgery in July, started with disappointing throws of 76.99m and 74.17m before delivering an 85.28m effort in his final attempt.

The final presents Chopra with an opportunity to become only the third male javelin thrower to defend his world title, following Czech legend Jan Zelezny (1993, 1995) and Anderson Peters (2019, 2022).

Nadeem, despite limited competition appearances, has proven his ability to deliver when it matters. He won the Asian Championships gold in Korea in May 2025, his only competition before the World Championships.

Olympic champions Neeraj Chopra of India and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan advanced to the World Championships javelin throw finals on Wednesday. While defending champion Chopra qualified easily with his first throw of 84.85m, Nadeem needed a final attempt of 85.28m to secure his spot.

Another Indian, Sachin Yadav, also made it to the finals with an 83.67m throw that placed him sixth in Group A and tenth overall. However, Indians Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh failed to qualify, finishing 28th and 30th respectively among 37 competitors.

Anderson Peters topped the qualification round with a season-best throw of 89.53m. German Julian Weber, who leads the world this year with 91.51m, qualified second overall with 87.21m.

Other automatic qualifiers included Dawid Wegner (85.67m), Julius Yego (85.96m), and Curtis Thompson (84.72m). Jakub Vadlejch, Keshorn Walcott, Cameron McEntyre, and Rumesh Pathirage completed the 12-man final field.