"Thought I could throw better...": Neeraj after winning the inaugural NC Classic

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 5 : Following his win at the inaugural NC Classic at Bengaluru, India's world champion and Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra expressed his thoughts on his performance, happy with his win but not entirely satisfied with his throws. He also opened up on acting as both an organiser and athlete for the competition.
Chopra took the top honours in the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic, a competition named after him at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. The reigning javelin throw champion stood triumphant with 86.18m in a competition named after him. Kenya's Julius Yego notched up his season best and settled for second with 84.51m. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage claimed the third position with a best throw of 84.34m.
Speaking after the event in a press conference, Neeraj recalled that the last few days had been hard for him, given that he was both an athlete and the organiser of an event named after him.
"The last few days have been hard for me. It also made me feel a bit weird that the competition is in my name. I am happy that I can keep the medal and trophy from the first edition at home," he said.
Neeraj said that the people of Bengaluru also thoroughly enjoyed the event, and the support was very strong from the "passionate" fans.
Neeraj recalled that during the Doha Diamond League, he got a "lot of headwinds", which made throws difficult, and it was the same case in Bengaluru.
"Technically, I made a mistake in the starting (starting off with a foul throw). I was going to the left. My coach told me to throw straight. There was a little technical problem. But it was good. I thought I could throw better. But I am happy that I won in the first edition. My biggest target was to make this competition successful," he added.
Neeraj felt that after two or three throws, he felt good and felt that one of his 84-m something throws was an 87-88 m throw.
"But if there is more wind and there is more height, then it stops the javelin. If I had thrown a little more, then it would have been 87-88 metres," he added.
"But there was a lot of crowd, and there was a lot of support. There was a pressure when I was on the runway and was throwing. In the first throw, I was very enthusiastic and ran and threw.
My coach, Jan Zelezny, showed me the video and told me to stay relaxed," he added.
Later, he thanked all the parties involved in the organisation of the competition.
"Thank you very much to everyone for coming here. And I did not expect that in the first edition, there would be such a good crowd and so much support. I thank the AFI (Athletics Federation of India), the World Athletics, who gave us a gold-level competition today."
"This is a big thing for our country. And we were able to do so well, and I hope we will bring more competitions like this in the future. And thank you so much to every sponsor, the Karnataka government, and my JSW team, they are also working hard."
We were working day and night. So, there was a lot of help from everyone. I mean, I just wanted everyone to work like a team. So, I could see that. I mean, from the government, AFI, people came from the World Athletics, and the JSW, Karnataka government, I mean, everyone was giving us support," he concluded.
While some athletes came close to challenging Neeraj's supremacy, the Indian's finesse remained unmatched by the end of the tournament. Even though it wasn't another 90m outing for the 27-year-old, he stamped his authority by conquering the challenge that he encountered and ensured that he continued to stay inside the top two since June 26, 2021.
In front of an ebullient crowd, India's Sahil Silwal, left-handed, kicked off the proceedings at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium. He let out a roar after releasing the javelin from his hand and registered a throw of 77.48m. Rohit Yadav, a World Championships finalist, recorded a distance of 77.11m.
Neeraj fouled on his first attempt and got on the board with a throw of 82.99m. He raised his hand after releasing the javelin and got the crowd going. He went to the top of the standings, bettering the 81.90m attempt from Rumesh Pathirage of Sri Lanka.
Yashvir Singh, who started the event with a foul attempt, struck a distance of 76.20m in his second try. At the same time, Sachin Yadav managed 77.30m in his second try after fouling his first.
Rumesh momentarily added a twist to the script by reclaiming the top spot with 84.34m, forcing Neeraj to slip to second. However, his attempt sparked a competitive fire in Neeraj, who responded boldly by sending his javelin to a distance of 86.18m to move to the summit after his third attempt.
The bottom four in the standings were bound to get eliminated after the first three throws. Rio Olympics champion Thomas Rohler, who struggled to get the desired distance, saw his run in the competition end with 75.85m being his best. Sahil, Rohit, and Martin Konecny fouled their third throws and crashed out of the race for the top spot.
With the last eight competitors decided, Neeraj tried to improve his best effort but didn't achieve the distance or height he yearned for. He deliberately strayed past the white line to register his second foul throw at the event.
'Mr YouTube' Julius Yego had a beaming smile on his face after his fourth try. The Kenyan athlete struck his season-best distance with a splendid 84.51m. Sachin's situation didn't improve after 82.33m.
With the crowd behind Neeraj clapping in rhythm, the two-time gold medallist didn't enhance his top distance but managed 84.07m.In the sixth round, Curtis Thompson acknowledged the crowd after his final 81.50m throw and finished sixth in the standings.
Sachin, an Asian silver medallist, had a disappointing outing and settled for the fourth spot after a foul in his last throw. Yego finished second with a strong 82.45 and turned towards the stands to acknowledge the crowd.
Before Neeraj turned up for one final attempt, the top three were decided, along with his spot at the summit. With the crowd behind him, 82.22m flashed on the screen as Neeraj stood triumphant and kept his top-two streak intact on his home turf.