Hangzhou (PTI): A groin strain has been troubling Neeraj Chopra for some time now but the Olympic champion does not want the thought of injury affect him as he gears up to defend his Asian Games title.
Chopra played most part of the season with a groin strain but still won the world championships title in August in Budapest and went on to finish second in the Diamond League finals on September 16.
"I have come back here after training and doing rehab in a relaxed manner in Switzerland. I hope to give my 100 per cent and defend my Asian Games title," Chopra told reporters here.
The 25-year-old javelin thrower has Olympic qualification in his mind.
"A little bit of groin issue is still there, it happened last year also. I was feeling better but it happened again. I have to take care of this very well and then prepare for the Paris Olympics. This kind of thing happens for athletes who compete at the top level."
He said the challenge throughout the season was how to keep his mind away from the injury and focus more on his game.
"I was struggling during the world championships and I was trying to divert my mind from the injury and focus on the throw.
"My strength is on the speed in the run-up but my biggest problem this time was I could not throw with full run-up even during training because of this injury. But still I am very happy with my performance this season. I want to take away this thought of injury from the mind."
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Vijayapura: Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has denied making any derogatory statement about Prophet Muhammad, clarifying that there was a misstatement during his speech at a Ram Navami event in Hubballi. "I did not speak about Prophet Muhammad. I meant to refer to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but there was a mistake in the speed of speech," he said addressing reporters on Monday.
He alleged that members of the Congress, frustrated by their hooliganism and failure to collect their hafta (extortion) in Vijayapura are using the Prophet as an excuse to speak against me. “There is no culture of denigrating another religion in Hinduism. Our gurus and elders have not taught us that,” he said.
Responding to another controversy involving an audio clip in which he was allegedly threatened, Yatnal said the police are investigating the matter and that those behind it will soon be exposed. “No one can finish me. The Hindus of Karnataka are with me. If someone tries to finish me, the whole state will rise in protest,” he warned.