By News18
Bengaluru, Jul 1 (PTI) Two-time World Championship gold-medallist javelin thrower Anderson Peters on Tuesday pulled out of the Neeraj Chopra Classic due to an ankle injury, dealing another blow to the showpiece.
The 27-year-old Grenada stalwart, who had taken the bronze medal behind Neeraj at the Paris Olympics last year, has been replaced by Poland鈥檚 Cyprian Mrzyg艂贸d in the event schedule for Saturday.
Mrzyg艂贸d is a 2019 European U23 champion and his best throw of 84.97 metres came during the event.
鈥淎nderson Peters has been ruled out of the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 due to an ankle injury sustained during his last competition. Poland鈥檚 Cyprian Mrzyg艂贸d has been named as his replacement in the final lineup,鈥 the organisers said a statement.
Organised by double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra in collaboration with JSW Sports and sanctioned by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the world-class event featuring 12 javelin throwers, including five Indians, has already seen three replacements.
Peters has had a long rivalry with Chopra with the Grenada athlete. He successfully defended his World Championships title in 2022, defeating Neeraj with three throws over 90 metres. Peters then went on to win a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where Neeraj did not compete.
On Monday, Indian thrower Kishore Jena, struggling with an ankle injury, had pulled out of the NC Classic and was replaced by Yashvir Singh.
On June 6, Poland鈥檚 Martin Konecny had replaced Asian Games bronze medallist Genki Dean of Japan.
India鈥檚 first-ever international javelin competition, originally slated for May 24, was postponed due to military tensions between India and Pakistan.
The confirmed international lineup now includes Mrzyg艂贸d, Poland鈥檚 Martin Konecny, 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thomas R枚hler (Germany), 2015 world champion Julius Yego (Kenya), Curtis Thompson (USA), Luiz Mauricio da Silva (Brazil), and Rumesh Pathirage (Sri Lanka).
The Indian contingent will feature Asian Championships silver medallist Sachin Yadav, Rohit Yadav, and Sahil Silwal, Yashvir Singh besides Neeraj.
The event, granted Category A status by World Athletics, is considered a 鈥渄ream project鈥 of Chopra and aims to establish India as a credible host of elite-level athletics events. PTI AM AM AT AT