Chopra pledges to do his best in Indonesia

One of India’s best bets for an athletics gold at the upcoming Asian Games, Neeraj Chopra is determined to focus on the job at hand and not put extra pressure on himself.

The javelin star will also lead out the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony tomorrow.

“It is a great honour for me to lead the Indian contingent and carry the country’s flag at such a prestigious event,” he said. “As far as my preparations for the Asian Games are concerned, I want to say that I am not thinking about any medal or rank, all I want to do is give my best there.

“These three-four months in Europe have been very productive and I got a chance to compete in a lot of competitions in between. I am feeling good and as I said, my only target is give my best in Jakarta.”

The 20-year-old has topclass credentials by virtue of being the first Indian to win a gold medal at a World Championships. This came courtesy his win at the 2016 World Youth Championships.

In 2018, Chopra has maintained his fine form, consistently throwing the javelin beyond the 85-metre mark this year and also has set a new national record of 87.43-metre at the Doha Diamond League in May.

Meanwhile, veteran Indian doubles tennis star Leander Paes last night withdrew from the Games. There had been uncertainty over whom the 18-time Grand Slam champion would partner. Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan are expected to play together. Paes, who last played at the Asian Games in 2006, was likely to partner inexperienced Sumit Nagal or Ramkumar Ramanathan.