Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is recovering from his elbow surgery without complications but he will not be rushed into any competition, including the World Championships later this year, Adille Sumariwala, President of the Athletics Federation of India said on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Neeraj, who won a gold in the Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games last year, was successfully operated by celebrated orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai on May 2.
The arthroscopic surgery on his throwing right hand was done to remove bone fragments from his elbow joint. His recovery is likely to take at least three months, putting his participation at the prestigious Doha World Championships (September-October) in doubt.
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“There were some bone fragments (in Neeraj’s elbow) which were removed. He has started his physiotherapy with Heath Matthews. He must have done four sessions by now. I will discuss about Neeraj’s progress with Matthews and Dr.Pardiwala tomorrow,” Sumariwala said.
“He (Neeraj) is doing everything except throwing. He is undergoing rehabilitation. The daily report is good, so far so good, there are no complications. We are hopeful (of his complete recovery),” he added.
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Matthews is a renowned physiotherapist and head of sports medicine at the Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. He has treated the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi.
When asked if the AFI is hopeful of Neeraj competing in the World Championships, Sumariwalla said, “We are taking it step by step. There is no point jumping the gun. We are not pushing him (to do things).
“We are not even talking to him about the World Championships. If we do that he would want to throw hard. We will go step by step. We told him to focus on rehabilitation and we will see what to to next.”
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