Javelin ace Neeraj Chopra set for Karlstad Grand Prix on June 22

In his bid to regain form and confidence before the Olympic Games, Indian javelin exponent Neeraj Chopra's next stop will be Karlstad Grand Prix in Sweden on June 22 as part of his preparation.

After the Karlstad Grand Prix competition, 23-year-old Chopra will compete at the Kuortane Games in Finland on June 26, followed by another competition in Lausanne on June 29.

"This weekend he will fly from Portugal to Sweden to compete in the Karlstad Grand Prix. The event organisers have confirmed his entry. We hope there will be no issue at the border as Chopra is going from Portugal," an official associated with Chopra's training told IANS.

"These build-up events should be good enough to slip Chopra into a competitive mood for the Tokyo Olympic Games," said the coach. The Olympics start on July 23.

On June 10, the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion won gold at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa here. His winning throw was 83.18m.

The Lisbon competition marked Chopra's return to international competition after nearly 18 months.

Before this month's Meeting Cidade de Lisboa, Chopra was last seen in a competition at the South African domestic meet in Potchefstroom in action in January last year, when he threw the javelin to 87.86m to qualify for the Olympics.

Thereafter, he couldn't compete at the international level due to the pandemic. In April he was supposed to travel to Europe for a training-cum-competition stint but was denied visa by several European nations due to a raging second wave in India.

In the first week of June, Chopra secured visa to travel to France and then he moved to Portugal.

--IANS

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