Neeraj Chopra won again, but not in the manner he would have liked to, and he had no qualms in admitting it.
Competing in India for the first time in over three years, the Olympic and world champion javelin thrower marked it by winning the gold medal in the Federation Cup with a best throw of 82.27m in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
"I felt that I can compete here, and it was nice. However, let's not talk about the throw, it was not up to it," Chopra summed up his performance in the tournament.
Having arrived in Bhubaneswar on the eve of his competition after finishing second in the Doha Diamond League, the 26-year-old superstar, known for his consistency over the last few years, did not set the stage ablaze and was placed second after three rounds.
Chopra, however, took the lead in the fourth round with an effort of 82.27m and did not take the last two throws (fifth and sixth) as he was leading after DP Manu (82.06m), who settled for silver, had finished his final round throw.
Among his mediocre outings, Chopra threw 80.24m in the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic in September 2018.
"The competition was quite good and weather was warm. From the start, I was thinking if I feel good I will put effort accordingly. I came here after playing in Doha and there was not much recovery time and there was travel also, and I was not feeling that (good)," Chopra said.
"I gave my effort accordingly and did only four throws by passing on the last two throws as I have to compete in Ostrava (Czech Republic on May 28) in Golden Spike competition. There will around 10 days to recover and compete.
"I came to this kind of weather after a long time. The kind of enjoyment in a competition was not there. I was feeling the conditions were not that good, so I decided to stop after the fourth throw."
Asked about his famed consistency, Chopra said, "Yeh toh consistent wali throw nahi hey (this one is not my consistent type of throw).
"But I felt great to compete in India after a long time. I wanted to play in India and I performed according to the conditions, and the way my body was feeling. I have some big competitions coming up.
"I thought DP Manu would take over but his javelin landed quickly. The result here did not matter much as the most important one is the Paris Olympics."
There was just a gap of four days between the Doha Diamond League and this event. Asked about the thought process to compete here, he said, "We had a discussion that I would play in the National Inter-State Championships (June 27-30) and it's going to be held in Panchkula in Haryana but it was very near to the Paris Olympics.
"Since I was playing in Doha which is near to India. Moreover, there is Paris Diamond League (on July 7) between National Inter-State and Olympics. So, we decided to compete here."
Chopra will next compete in the Golden Spike event in Ostrava in Czech Republic and then feature in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 18 before the Paris Olympics.
"Further competition schedule will be decided later according to situation and my body. Otherwise, I will go to Paris from there (after competing in Turku)."
