'Best of luck to Neeraj', says Pak's Nadeem ahead of World Athletics 2023 finals

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s star Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has hailed India’s Neeraj Chopra's performance in the ongoing World Athletics Championship 2023 and wished him luck ahead of the finals.

“Best of luck to Neeraj. Neeraj bhai, Aap bhi achcha karein, Hum bhi achcha karein. Aapka naam hai world me, hamara bhi naam aye” (Neeraj brother, you also do well, and I also do well. You have a name in the world. I hope I also get my name in the world), said Arshad to Sportstar.

Nadeem who just came out of a year-long knee injury, propelled his season-best 86.79m to book his spot in the finals after Neeraj Chopra in the ongoing championship in Budapest.

The Indian star athlete, who topped the qualification mark, secured his spot in the finals with a massive of 88.7m throw. Both the players have also qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 surpassing the qualification mark.

Nadeem posted a photograph on Instagram and expressed his camaraderie towards Neeraj soon after the game and said that he wants Chopra to perform well in the finals. He also looked confident about achieving the big feat in finals on Sunday.

"My fight is with myself only. I did 90.18m at the Commonwealth Games last year and want to do better than that here. My body feels good. Inshallah, final me maza ayega," Arshad added.

Both the players have their paths crossed many times in the game. Nadeem won Gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year with a humongous throw of 90.18m, the best by any South Asian in the sport.

With Manu and Kishore joining Chopra India now has 3 players in the finals. The 12-member finals on Sunday will be very interesting to watch out which will be dominated by the Asians.