Athletics
Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem: A rivalry in numbers
2023 World Athletics Champion Neeraj Chopra and silver medallist Arshad Nadeem have had 9 direct face-offs. Neeraj has won all 9 times.
Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem: A rivalry in numbers
Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem, India and Pakistan's javelin stars, won the gold and silver medals respectively at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Sunday. | HIGHLIGHTS
The most elite India-Pakistan rivalry of present times, this is the first time two subcontinental athletes were the two contenders for the world title in any Athletics event.
Neeraj, 25, and Arshad, 26, both reaching the peaks of their careers at the same time and consequently leading the two countries' Athletics revolution concurrently, have faced off directly a total of eight times in their career. All eight times Neeraj has come out on top. But Arshad's personal best is better than Neeraj's.
Here's a look at how Neeraj and Arshad compare on a few parameters:
Longest throws
Neeraj Chopra - 89.94m (2022)
Arshad Nadeem - 90.18m (2002)
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World ranking
Neeraj Chopra - 1 (as of July 2023)
Arshad Nadeem - 5 (as of July 2023)
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Major international titles
Neeraj Chopra - 2023 World Athletics Championship, Olympic Games 2020 (happened in 2021), Diamond League Final 2022, World U20 Championships 2016, Asian Championships 2017, Asian Games 2018, Commonwealth Games 2018, Diamond League Meetings - four 1st-place finishes
Arshad Nadeem - Commonwealth Games 2022, Islamic Solidarity Games 2021 (happened in 2022), South Asian Games 2019
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Head to head meetings (8)
Neeraj Chopra 9-0 Arshad Nadeem
1. Guwahati South Asian Games - 10 FEB 2016
Neeraj 1st / 82.23 Arshad 3rd / 78.33
2. Ho Chi-Minh Asian Junior Championships - 06 JUN 2016
Neeraj 2nd / 77.60 Arshad 3rd / 73.40
3. Bydgoszcz IAAF World U20 Championships - 22 JUL 2016
Neeraj 1st / 78.20 Arshad 15th / 67.17
4. Bhubaneshwar Asian Championships - 09 JUL 2017
Neeraj 1st / 85.23 Arshad 7th / 78.00
5. Gold Coast Commonwealth Games - 14 APR 2018
Neeraj 1st / 86.47 Arshad 8th / 76.02
6. Jakarta Asian Games - 27 AUG 2018
Neeraj 1st / 88.06 Arshad 3rd / 80.75
7. The XXXII Olympic Games - 07 AUG 2021
Neeraj 1st / 87.58 Arshad 5th / 84.62
8. World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022 - 23 JUL 2022
Neeraj 2nd / 88.13 Arshad 5th / 86.16
9. World Athletics Championships, Budapest 2023 - 28 AUG 2023
Neeraj 1st / 88.17 Arshad 2nd / 87.82
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Progression
Arshad Nadeem, who started competing in IAAF events in 2015, two years after Neeraj Chopra, had his personal best consistently below the Indian till 2019, when he caught up with him in the mid-80 metres. In 2022, Arshad crossed Neeraj for the first time by breaching the 90m mark, which has still remained elusive for Neeraj.
Neck and neck at the moment, the 2023 World Athletics Champion Neeraj Chopra has the slightest edge at the moment.
Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem: Progression through the years
Most common throwing range
Neeraj Chopra has thrown in the range of 85m to 88m the most times in his career - 16 times. Although he has a lower higher throw than Arshad, he has a higher median throw than him.
Neeraj Chopra's throwing range
Arshad Nadeem has thrown in the range of 85m to 88m the most times in his career - five times. He has also thrown in the 80m to 82m marks also the same number of times.
Arshad Nadeem's throwing range
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Coaches
Neeraj Chopra's coaches since childhood - Akshay Choudhary, Naseem Ahmad, Kashinath Naik, Werner Daniels, Uwe Hohn (2018-2021), Klaus Bartonietz (2021-current)
Arshad Nadeem's coaches since childhood - Rasheed Ahmad Saqi, Syed Fiaz Bukhari, Terseus Liebenberg
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Social media
Neeraj Chopra - Instagram @ neeraj____chopra/ 6.3 million followers, Twitter @Neeraj_chopra1 926.6K Followers
Arshad Nadeem - Instagram @arshadnadeem29/ 96.9K followers, Twitter @arshadolympian1 /19.2K Followers
