It has been a week since Neeraj Chopra achieved a personal milestone by finally breaching the sacred 90m barrier in the javelin throw at the Doha Diamond League on May 16. His 90.23m throw, however, could not get him the title in his first Diamond League appearance of the year.

Germany's Julian Weber pipped Neeraj with an effort of 91.06m off his final throw of the competition. Like Neeraj, Weber also breached the 90m barrier for the first time in his career.

They will be back in action at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial in Chorzów, Poland on Friday evening, renewing their rivalry. The meet presents a chance for Neeraj to avenge his season’s first defeat, suffered at the hands of Weber in Doha. The men’s javelin throw event in Chorzów is scheduled to begin at 9:45 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).

The weekend was supposed to be slotted for India's first-ever A-listed World Athletics event in Bengaluru. However, the Neeraj Chopra Classic - originally scheduled in Bengaluru for May 24 - has been postponed indefinitely due to the confrontation between India and Pakistan.

As a stop-gap event, Neeraj chose to compete in Chorzow along with the top javelin throwers from across the world in the run-up to the World Athletics Championships, scheduled from September 15-21 in Tokyo.

The fight will be between Neeraj, Weber, and Anderson Peters - all of whom were supposed to compete in Bengaluru.

Apart from the famed trio, the field in Chorzów will also include Moldova's Andrian Mardare, Ukraine's Artur Felfner, and three Polish throwers - Marcin Krukowski, Cyprian Mrzyglód, and Roch Krukowski.

Among the three Polish throwers, only Krukowski has an impressive personal best - 89.55m, achieved in 2021. The rest are way outside the top tier of the international javelin throw sphere.

As Neeraj is now free from injuries, fully fit, and has finally got the monkey off his back by attaining the 90m throw, he will be motivated to fly his spear to longer distances.

His former coach Dr. Klaus Bartonietz, who is currently in Hisar, India, training emerging javelin throwers, has remarked that the Indian javelin throw star will “go for 92m, 93m or, maybe, 94m throws in future.” Dr. Bartonietz was the man who transformed Neeraj into a world beater, guiding him to two Olympic medals — gold and silver — and as many World Championships medals. He also helped Neeraj defend his Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, China in 2023.

In an important year marking the World Championships, where Neeraj, now coached by world record holder Jan Železný, will head as the defending champion, he needs to maintain consistency while avoiding injuries to stay in the hunt for his second Worlds gold.

But long before that, Neeraj will hope to throw farther. The Silesian Stadium in Chorzów is known for assisting mighty throws. In September 2020, Johannes Vetter threw a mighty 97.76m. Eight months later, Vetter registered a 96.29m throw at the same venue. In fact, Vetter also has four other 90m throws and three others in excess of 89m at this venue. It was clearly one of his favourite venues.

With the ambience in Chorzów differs from Doha - where the temperature was higher and wind speed greater compared to the Polish city - Neeraj will look to go for the kill. But Weber and Peters - who are also in great shape - will be no pushovers. Peters has a personal best of 93.07 metres.