Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025: Two-time World Championship gold-medallist Anderson Peters pulls out from the tournament

Just ahead of the Neeraj Chopra Classic, two-time World Championship gold-medallist javelin thrower Anderson Peters on Tuesday (July 1) pulled out citing ankle injury, dealing another blow to the showpiece event. The 27-year-old Grenada star, who took the bronze medal behind Neeraj at the Paris Olympics last year, has been replaced by Poland's Cyprian Mrzygłód in the event schedule for Saturday (July 6). Mrzygłód is a 2019 European U23 champion and his best throw of 84.97 metres came during the event.

“Anderson Peters has been ruled out of the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 due to an ankle injury sustained during his last competition,” the organisers said. The current lineup at the Neeraj Chopra Classic now includes only two big international names: Kenya's Julius Yego and Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thomas Rohler from Germany.

Earlier, the Neeraj Chopra Classic javelin throw event was rescheduled to take place on July 6 in Bengaluru. The tournament, which was earlier scheduled to take place on May 24, was postponed due to India-Pakistan conflict. The marquee tournament, India's first international javelin throw event, will include 12 athletes including seven from all around the world. The venue of the event, which has been granted category A status by World Athletics, is Kanteevera stadium in Bengaluru.

The five Indian athletes including Neeraj Chopra are: Kishore Jena, Sachin Yadav, Rohit Yadav and Sahil Silwal. The seven foreign contestants are: two-time world champion Anderson Peters (PB: 93.07m) of Grenada, 2016 Olympics gold winner Thomas Rohler (PB: 93.90m) of Germany, 2015 world champion Julius Yego (92.72m) of Kenya, American Curtis Thompson (PB: 87.76m), Asian Games bronze medallist Genki Dean (PB: 84.28m) of Japan, Rumesh Pathirage (PB: 85.45m) of Sri Lanka, Luiz Mauricio da Silva (PB: 86.34m) of Brazil.

The tournament is approved by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and has been organized by Neeraj Chopra in association with JSW Sports.