Neeraj Chopra Javelin Final, World Athletics 2022, Highlights: Neeraj makes India proud again, wins silver
- Neeraj Chopra scripted history as he won the silver medal. While Anderson Peters bagged the gold, Jakub Vadlejch ended up at the third position.
- Neeraj's fifth attempt ended in a foul. He is still at second spot behind Anderson Peters.
- In his fourth attempt, Neeraj covered 88.13m. It is his best throw so far which made him climb up to second position.
- Rohit Yadav threw 78.72 meters in the third attempt.
- Neeraj Chopra covered a distance of 86.37 meters in the third attempt.
- Anderson Peters crossed 90 meters for the second time in a row. (90.24, 90.46)
- Neeraj's first throw- foul, Rohit Yadav's first throw- 77.96m, Neeraj's second throw- 82.39m, Rohit Yadav's second throw- 78.05m
- Neeraj Chopra is fourth with 82.39 metres in first attempt. Anderson Peters leads with a massive throw of 90.21 metres.
The 24-year-old Indian superstar, the hot favourite for a medal, opened the Group A qualification round by sending his spear to 88.39m for his third career-best throw.
Chopra finished second best overall behind defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who topped Group B with his opening round effort of 89.91m.
"It was a good start. I'll give my 100 per cent in the final. We'll see. Every day is different. I'll just give my best. We don't know who can throw far on any given day," Chopra said after his event.
"There is a little bit of zigzag in my run-up. I shook a little bit, but it was a good throw. There are so many throwers in good shape now. Five-six throwers have thrown PBs this year. They are all in excellent shape," he added.
Chopra's qualification round lasted a few minutes as he did not need to take the remaining two throws after breaching the automatic qualification mark on his first attempt.
Another Indian in the fray, Rohit Yadav also made it to the finals after finishing sixth in Group B qualification round, and 11th overall.
Rohit threw 80.42m in the first round. His second throw was a foul and he managed a modest 77.32m in his last attempt.
The 21-year-old Indian had recorded a season's and personal best of 82.54m while winning a silver at the National Inter-State Championships last month.
Those who cleared 83.50m or the 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualified for the final to be held on Sunday (7:05am IST).
Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, had competed in the 2017 London World Championships with the hope of at least making it to the finals but managed only 82.26m to fall short of the automatic qualification mark of 83m.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic also qualified for the finals with a first round throw of 85.23m. He was the second automatic qualifier from Group A, along with Chopra, and fourth overall.
Chopra has beaten Peters twice this season while the 24-year-old Grenadian prevailed over the Indian once -- at the Diamond League Meeting in Stockholm on June 30 -- in their three meetings before the World Championships.
World leader Peters has thrown 90m-plus thrice with the best being a monster throw of 93. 07m while winning gold at the year's first Diamond League Meeting in Doha in May.
Germany's Julian Weber was the fourth athlete to breach the automatic qualification mark, also with his opening throw of 87.28m. He was third overall. Four competitors across the two groups breached the automatic qualification mark.
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem also made it to the finals after finishing fourth in Group B, and ninth overall, with a best throw of 81.71m.
If Chopra wins in the final on Sunday, he will become only the third male javelin thrower to follow Olympic success with World Championship gold after Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen (2008-09) and world record holder Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic in 2000-01 and 1992-93.
He had missed the 2019 World Championships in Doha as he was recovering from an elbow surgery.
In other events, Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final at the World Championships with an effort of 16.
68m.
He finished sixth in Group A qualification round and 12th overall to make the cut for Sunday's final.
The 25-year-old Paul, who reached here just a few days ago due to visa issues, has a season's and personal best of 16.99m which he had recorded while winning gold in the Federation Cup in April.
The two other Indians, Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker, disappointed as they failed to make it to the finals after below-par jumps of 16.
49m and 16.45m respectively.
Chitravel finished eighth in Group A, and 17th overall, while Aboobacker ended at 10th in Group B, and 19th overall. Those who cleared 17.05m or the 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualify for the finals.
