Asian Games 2023: Netizens irked as China does not measure Neeraj Chopra’s first throw

Neeraj’s first throw was well over 85 metres, but after an inordinate delay in measuring the exact distance, officials insisted that he repeat the throw, which ended way shorter.

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra’s Asian Games gold quest should have gone off to a good start, but unfortunately for the javelin ace, a ‘technical glitch’ at the competition meant that officials did not register his first ‘massive’ throw and minutes later told him to do it all over. His second, which was then his official first, was far below that mark and netizens who were following the action live could not contain their disapproval of the way the champ’s throw was handled by Games officials.

“Shame on China”, “Cheater China” were some of the common remarks that accompanied pretty much every comment about this officiating error. While Neeraj managed to better his first throw by a couple of metres in the second, the drama did not end with him, as his teammate Kishore Kumar Jena also experienced some of it with his perfectly legal second throw being adjudged foul. Jena appealed this, though, with Chopra’s support, and it was eventually declared a legal throw after all. Take a look at what netizens are saying:

Shaurya D Joshi said that it looks intentional by China. “How can you justify such snags in an important event like Asiad 2022? Utter shame. It affected #NeerajChopra's throw by a margin of approximately 3 meters. #AsianGames2022 #IndiaAtAsianGames,” he tweeted. Kamal Kant Sharma added that not counting Neeraj Chopra's first throw and raising the red flag for Kishore without any reason shows how technically sound they are to organise such a big even. “It is not good for sportspersons and those who follow the sport,” he reckoned.

At the time of this report, Chopra and Jena occupied the top two positions in the javelin finale with two throws a piece.

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