New Delhi, Aug. 28 -- Neeraj Chopra and Julian Weber have made it an exciting season going after one another in tense showdowns. Germany's Weber has emerged as a strong rival to Chopra. The two have been involved in some excellent duels, with Weber beating Neeraj twice and losing once. They could well carry forward the rivalry in the two most important competitions of the season -- the Diamond League Final in Zurich on Thursday and the Worlds in Tokyo next month. Chopra, however, skipped the last two Diamond League meets in Silesia and Brussels this month. He would be keen to return to action in Zurich. The two-day competition starts Wednesday. The two-time Olympic medallist secured his place in the grand finale after earning enough points in the Qatar and Paris legs. Chopra, the reigning world champion, will face stiff competition from Weber, Anderson Peters and Julius Yego, all of whom have been in good form this year. Of the seven throwers in the field, five have 90m+ throws. Big throws too are expected in Zurich with the upcoming Tokyo championships. Chopra himself finally went past the 90m mark this year (90.23m in Doha) and will be eager to deliver again with two major competitions left. The season's best throw belongs to Weber (91.06m), who pushed Chopra to second in a thriller in Doha with his very last attempt. Chopra will look to set the record straight in Zurich. It was here that his only DL title came in 2022. Chopra therefore has fond memories of the venue and will be motivated to regain the title. In the last two editions, he finished second. Defending DL champion Jakub Vadlejc has competed in just two meets this year, including the Doha DL (79.60m) and hasn't qualified for the finale. Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem is also missing from the list published by the organisers. Weber, however, has stepped up. Just five days ago, Weber threw 89.65m to win the Brussels leg, ahead of Keshorn Walcott (86.30m) and Peters (85.17m). Yet the German said he could have gone further. "Technically, it (the throw) was better, but not 100 per cent yet. I had a few issues with the run-up. The consistency is still missing. The 89m was not a really good attempt, so there is room for more," he said in Brussels. Weber also revealed he had been dealing with some Achilles issues in recent weeks, though he appears to have recovered. The top throwers know that they cannot afford to take it easy. In big competitions, a throw beyond 90m is often the clincher. "I expect the competition in Tokyo to be tough. Nowadays you need to get over 90 metres to be assured of a medal," Kenya's Yego said after winning the Silesia leg with a throw of 83.60m. Chopra last competed at his own event - the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5 - which he won with a throw of 86.18m. He has featured in six meets this season, winning four. His shortest mark of the year came in Poland in May, where he threw 84.14m. After the Bengaluru event, Chopra flew to the Czech Republic for an extended training camp with his coach Jan Zelezny, who has been fine-tuning his technique to help generate the power needed for longer throws....