There are high expectations from India’s ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra in an event named and hosted by him as he competes against a host of top performers at the Neeraj Chopra (NC) Classic javelin throw competition on Saturday. Buoyed by the home support at Bengaluru, he will be targeting a 90m throw for the second time this year.

The inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic will provide Indian fans a chance to get a feel of a top-class competition. This, experts feel, will help raise the profile of the sport in the country. Chopra has been inspired to name a tournament after himself by the examples of world record holder Swedish pole vaulter Armando Duplantis and Kenyan distance running legend Kipchoge Keino, who have international showpieces named after them – Mondo Classic and Kip Keino Classic.

During the event at the Kanteerava Stadium, which will last about an hour, fans will be expecting the double Olympic medallist to breach the 90m mark again. Chopra will be competing in India after a year. “It’s a long-standing dream for me to organise this kind of an event in India. It’s a dream come true. I am very excited. I have won Olympic and other medals. Now with this event, I am giving back something to Indian athletics and the fans,” said the javelin thrower, who became Indian athletics’ first gold medal winner in the Olympics in Tokyo.

Chopra is organising the event with JSW Sports in collaboration with the Athletics Federation of India and World Athletics. Chopra said the NC Classic would be an annual feature, where other events would be added in due course. It is set to be the most high-profile single discipline international athletics competition ever held in India with the World Athletics according it Category A status.

With Julian Weber out of action and two-time world champion Anderson Peters pulling out due to injury, Chopra will be the favourite to win the title. The two have challenged Chopra the most this season. Germany’s 2016 Olympic champion Thomas Rohler (personal best: 93.90m), Kenya’s 2015 world champion Julius Yego (92.72m) and American Curtis Thompson (87.76m) could be Chopra’s main challengers. Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem was also invited to the event, but he declined, citing a clash with his training schedule.

Though the competition will not witness as many top competitors as expected due to some pull-outs, including the one by two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada due to injury, the event is still expected to be a sell-out. The 12-man field is still world-class with five of them having already breached the qualifying mark for the World Championships. Meanwhile, Chopra’s legendary coach Jan Zelezny, the world record holder, has also landed in Bengaluru for the event.

‘Beginning of a new chapter in Indian athletics’

Chopra said the NC Classic would be a start of something significant in Indian athletics, which now needs multiple world class events. He said he would try to upscale the event in coming years. “I feel like I’m in a dream. Medals are a different thing. But I’ve given something like this to India and to Indian athletes. I’m very happy about that. This is the beginning of a new chapter in our athletics,” Chopra said in a pre-event press meet on Friday.

“With the kind of support I’m getting from everyone, I feel we can make this event even better,” he said, expressing his intent to make athletic competitions in India comparable to the best in the world.