New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- The men's javelin final will be spiced up by a mouthwatering contest between reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships on Thursday. However, it may not mirror the last two global meets where Chopra won gold at 2023 Budapest and Nadeem went from silver in that Worlds to gold in the Paris Olympics with a stunning first throw that pushed the Indian stalwart to second. On Wednesday, they sealed qualification in contrasting fashion. Chopra achieved automatic qualification (84.50m) with his first throw of 84.85m before checking with a track official on the exit out of the Japan National Stadium, a venue where he gave India its greatest athletics moment by winning the 2021 Olympics gold. The 27-year-old's fluent throw on Wednesday was in contrast to his laboured effort (85.01m) in the Diamond League final at August end, finishing second behind Julian Weber. The German, who threw a world leading 91.51m for that win, topped Chopra's Group A with 87.21m. India, having fielded four in javelin, will have a second finalist after Sachin Yadav, also in Chopra's group, threw 83.67m. He was sixth in Group A and qualified 10th overall for the 12-man final. Grenada's Anderson Peters issued a warning to his rivals with a 89.53m to top qualification, suggesting that he is over a long low phase that followed the injuries suffered in a brawl back home in 2022. Like Peters, Nadeem too is on a comeback, after undergoing calf surgery in June. But Nadeem, like Peters, is well-built and a power thrower. That means the big throw can happen any time. That also helped Nadeem qualify. Placed in the Group B qualifying group, his first two attempts were 76.99m and 74.17m, but just when it appeared he could make a shock exit, Nadeem nailed it with an 85.28m with the final effort. He qualified fifth overall, one spot above Chopra. Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh, both in Group B, flopped. Rohit has a PB of 83.65 and a season's best of 81.75, but his series was 77.81, 74.51 and foul. Yash Vir, who threw 82.57m in the Asian athletics in May, threw 76.11, 76.21, 77.51. If conditions are ideal, the final could be a 90-plus affair, and Neeraj then may have to produce at least the 90.23m he did in the Doha DL. Indian triple jumpers disappointed. The series of Praveen Chithravel, who equalled his national record of 17.37m in April, was foul, 16.38 and 16.74. Abdulla Aboobacker, whose PB is 17.19m, fouled two attempts before a third try of 16.33m. Portugal's Isaac Nader produced a brilliant final sprint to snatch the men's 1,500m by pipping 2022 world champion Jake Wightman. Nader clocked 3:34.10, beating Wightman by two-hundredths of a second....