India, Aug. 29 -- Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will not defend his Asian Games crown due to a ligament tear in his ankle, the javelin ace announced on Saturday. A two-time Asiad gold medallist - he won in 2018 and 2023 - Chopra was India's surefire medal hope for the Aichi-Nagoya Games (Sept 19-Oct 4), although a third straight gold looked tough going by the scorching form of Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage.

Chopra and Pathirage have squared off six times and the 23-year-old islander enjoys a 5-1 advantage. They last met at the Lausanne Diamond League last week where Pathirage won with a 88.14m throw. Chopra was next with a season's best of 88.05m. Chopra will also miss the DL Finals in Brussels on September 5.

"After a period ...