India pin hopes on Neeraj Chopra for historic javelin medal

All eyes will be on Neeraj Chopra to deliver India’s elusive Olympic medal in athletics. A pre-tournament medal contender, the 23-year-old Chopra fuelled country’s expectations by topping the qualification round with a stunning first round throw of 86.59m. Three track and field athletes were part of the five-member Indian team at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium — the other two being wrestlers.

 Since then, no Indian has won a medal in athletics. The 23-year-old proved he has the potential to be one of India's greatest track and field athletes with a monstrous throw of 88.06m to win the Gold medal at the Asian Games in 2018.Neeraj won a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games with a throw of 82.23 m, where he equalled the Indian national record. He won a gold medal in 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He also set a world junior record. Despite these performances, he failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics as the cut off date was 11 July. Sony Sports Network will provide the live television broadcast of the highly-anticipated match in India. The match is scheduled at 4:30pm IST.