Kamalpreet Kaur reacts after her second throw during discus throw qualification round in Tokyo on Saturday.
After a strong season leading to the main event, Kamalpreet Kaur peaked at the right moment as the discus thrower hurled exactly 64.00 metres on Saturday to qualify for Tokyo Olympics women's discus throw final. Another Indian in the fray, Seema Punia couldn't qualify for the final as she finished 16th with a 60.57m throw.
Medal hopes will be now high from the Indian national record holder (at 66.59m in June 2021) as Kamalpreet was only the second discus thrower to directly qualify for the final -- finishing second in group B and overall) behind USA's Valarie Allman (66.42m). The final is scheduled for Monday.
In her three attempts on the day, 23-year-old Kamalpreet kept on improving her performance as she began with 60.29m, then improved it 63.97m before finally achieving the direct qualification mark.
Former national record holder, 38-year-old Seema was well below her season-best of 62.73m, which came earlier in June during National Inter-State Championships. She began with a foul throw and then could only manage 60.57m and 58.93m in group A of the qualification round.
