After the latest Asia Cup 2025 fiasco, there were massive speculations over whether Neeraj Chopra and his Pakistani counterpart Arshad Nadeem will shake hands during the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo. In several pre-game previews, it was expected that the same tensions will prevail between the two nations and they seemingly did not even look eye to eye.
Massive off-field tensions followed after the India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 match. After Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav belted a six to fashion a seven-wicket win for their side, he walked away without shaking hands with any of the Pakistan cricket team members. As a result, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha skipped the post-game presentation.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were left outraged by Team India captain's gesture and dramatically appealed to ban match referee Andy Pycroft from the remainder of the tournament, claiming that he ordered there will be no handshakes between the two captains. Pakistan had also threatened to pull out from Asia Cup if their demands would not be met. With the ICC rejecting their demand, the match against UAE on Wednesday started after an hour's delay, with Pycroft only officiating the game.
Meanwhile, Nadeem and Chopra likely maintained the same stance amid political tensions between the two countries.
"Two weeks ago I had some back issues" - Neeraj Chopra
Although Chopra had started the event as a defending champion, he finished the event at eighth with a best throw of 84.03 meters. The 27-year-old revealed that he had problems ahead of the event and thought he will manage. Chopra told World Athletics after the final:
"I don’t understand what happened today. This has not happened for a long time. I had some problems before coming to Tokyo. Two weeks ago I had some back issues but I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was thinking I would still manage to get through it. But javelin is really tough. If you are not in a good shape, you’re out. It’s okay. I will learn from today."
Chopra's fellow countryman Sachin Yadav fared with promising throws but narrowly missed out on a medal.
