Spotlight on Neeraj Chopra, dark horse Murali Sreeshankar too eyes glory

EUGENE (USA): Neeraj Chopra will carry a billion hopes into the World Championship for yet another landmark result and it won't be a surprise if long jumper Murali Sreeshankar also grabs a slice of history at the showpiece, starting here Friday.

Chopra is cherishing phenomenal results this season. The star athlete has improved his personal best twice -- he recorded a 89.30m throw on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland before sending his spear to 89.94m, just 6cm shy of 90m, in the prestigious Stockholm Diamond League Meeting on June 30.

In between, he had won the javelin throw event at Kuortane Games in Finland with a throw of 86.69m under wet and slippery conditions. Given the form he is in, the Tokyo Olympic Champion is expected to script history and become only the second Indian and first male player from the country to win a medal in the World Athletics Championships.

Chopra's main rival for the gold medal will be the defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Peters is the favourite to win gold as he owns four of the top five throws this season. His best effort of 93.07 is also the best result this season.

A gold is, however, not beyond Chopra's reach as he has beaten Peters twice this season -- at Paavo Nurmi Games and Kuortane Games. Peters also struggled briefly this season due to injury while Chopra has been in the pink of his health.

National record holder long jumper Murali Sreeshankar will be a dark horse as he sits at joint second place among season leaders with his 8.36m effort during the Federation Cup in April.

He will be seen in action on Friday (early hours on Saturday in India) in the qualifying rounds.

The 23-year-old Sreeshankar has also been a consistent performer this season.