Neeraj Chopra 9-0 Arshad Nadeem: The India vs Pakistan Rivalry Between Javelin Throw Stars

With each passing global/continental athletics event, the rivalry between Indian Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan's Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem is becoming one of the most exciting match-ups in world athletics. Rivalries between athletes/teams from two countries who are neighbours and a shared history, have always been one of the most intriguing aspects of various sports. India versus Pakistan is no different. Be it in cricket, hockey or any other sports, this rivalry always has been in the limelight and dominated.

In the world of athletics, a notable India vs Pakistan duel was back in the 1960s between Indian track legend Milkha Singh and Pakistan's Abdul Khaliq. The rivalry between Neeraj and Arshad is also slowly gaining a lot of steam.

Neeraj has become a household name with his on-field exploits, having won everything gold this sport had to offer him at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Diamond League and finally the World Athletics Championships. His efforts have put Indian athletics on map.

While Arshad's cabinet of medals/trophies is not as big as Neeraj, he is still the first Pakistani athlete to secure a World Championships medal, receiving a silver yesterday with Neeraj getting a historic gold. Less than a meter was the difference between Neeraj's best throw of 88.17 m and Arshad's best effort of 87.82 m. Nadeem had also ended Pakistan's 60-year wait for a CWG gold last year in Birmingham.

Head to head, both athletes have faced off in nine international events together, seven times at senior level and two times at junior level, as per Olympics.com.

The first meeting of these two athletes was back in the South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati, where Neeraj got a gold and