Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is set to miss the 59th National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi as he is not fit to compete.
Adille Sumariwalla, the president of Athletics Federation of India confirmed this news on Thursday.
While the AFI had initially permitted Neeraj to take part in the event, they then intervened to withdraw his name at the eleventh hour, realising he still hadn’t fully recovered yet.
“Neeraj Chopra is fit to train but he is still not competition-ready. He is doing all the necessary training efforts which include throwing, lifting weights, physiotherapy, etc. But, he still has to work on his fitness to be competition fit,” said Sumariwalla.
The Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist has still not booked his berth for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The last tournament Neeraj was seen taking part in was the Services Athletics Championships in Jalahalli on September 19th last year.
