Doha, June 15 (IANS) Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra will launch his 2026 athletics season at the Doha Diamond League in Qatar on Friday after organisers confirmed his participation in the men’s javelin throw event through the official entry list released on Monday.

The competition will be Neeraj’s return to action after nearly nine months. He last competed at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. The two-time Olympic medallist has been recovering from a back injury while training in Switzerland during the off-season.

Doha has been a successful location for the Indian athlete. He will participate in his fourth consecutive Diamond League meet there. Neeraj won the Doha Diamond League title in 2023 with a throw of 88.67m and finished second in 2024 with a throw of 88.36m. Last year, he set a national record with a throw of 90.23m at the same venue but still finished as the runner-up behind Germany’s Julian Weber.

Neeraj’s participation was confirmed shortly after he was provisionally named to India’s 32-member athletics squad for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. This highlights his significance to the country’s chances for medals.

The 28-year-old, however, faces tough competition in Doha. Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem was initially on the list, but he has since withdrawn. Without him, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage stands out as a top contender.

Pathirage enters the event as the current world leader after throwing an impressive 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League earlier this month. This performance moved the Sri Lankan to eighth on the all-time world list and made him the second-best Asian javelin thrower after Arshad Nadeem’s Olympic record of 92.97m from the Paris 2024 Games.

The competition also includes reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad and Tobago, two-time world champion Anderson Peters from Grenada, and former world champion Julius Yego from Kenya.

Other strong competitors are the USA’s Pan American Games gold medallist Curtis Thompson, Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch—an Olympic and World Championships silver medallist—Ukraine’s Artur Felfner, and Egypt’s Ahmed Sameh Mohamed Hussein.

With many of the world’s top throwers in the mix, Doha will give an early view of Neeraj’s standing in a critical year that includes the Commonwealth Games and other major events. The Doha meet is the seventh stop of the 2026 Diamond League season, which will end with the finals in Brussels on September 4 and 5.

Doha Diamond League 2026 men’s javelin throw entry list:

* Neeraj Chopra (India)

* Artur Felfner (Ukraine)

* Ahmed Sameh Mohamed Hussein (Egypt)

* Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (Sri Lanka)

* Anderson Peters (Grenada)

* Curtis Thompson (USA)

* Jakub Vadlejch (Czechia)

* Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago)

* Julius Yego (Kenya)

–IANS

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