Asian Games
'China playing dirty game?': India fumes as Neeraj Chopra's 85+ throw not registered
World champion Neeraj Chopra had to restart his throw at the 2023 Asian Games after a glitch in the Asian Games' scoring apparatus. Neeraj's first throw, which clearly exceeded 85 meters, was not registered.
Neeraj Chopra reacting at the Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2023. (FILE PHOTO: AP)
Neeraj Chopra's first throw at the 19th Asian Games men's javelin throw final was invalidated after a glitch in the on-field scoring system, 'robbing' him of an 85 metres plus throw and incensing Indian fans.
Taking the second spot in the order, Neeraj hurled his spear in his rhythm, and it appeared to be a tremendous throw. However, after a wait of more than 10 minutes and some confusion, his throw was invalidated.
While commentators mentioned the issue with the server, it was evident that there was an ongoing conversation between Neeraj and the technical officials present on the field.
Here is a video of the Neeraj Chopra's invalid throw:
While the above video clearly shows Neeraj had comfortably cleared the 85m line with his first throw, the confusion was increased for TV audiences because graphics on the replays showed the 85m line at the 90m line.
As the confusion prevailed on the broadcast, the Indian fans started expressing their anger.
After deliberation of more than ten minutes, Neeraj had to pick up his spear and throw again. He registered a valid throw of 82.38m now. He easily went up to the gold medal spot, but his first throw remains his biggest of the night so far - even though it is not registered on the official scores.
The technical officials also went to manually find the spot where the Javelin might have landed but failed to find it leading to the chaos.
Fans fume: A repeat of Jyothi Yarraji's case?
A similar incident happened during 110m hurdles when Jyothi Yarraji was accused of a false start which was eventually quashed later on.
The athletics fan base on X (formerly Twitter) was quick to question the incompetency of the organisers. At the elite level events, hardly such a situation arises of equipment malfunction.
Neeraj, however, successfully defended his gold medal for his best throw of 88.88m. Kishore Kumar Jena made it a double podium finish for India by securing a second-place finish with an 87.54m throw.
