Avinash Sable to join Neeraj Chopra in Diamond League finale in Brussels

National record holder 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable will run in his maiden Diamond League Final in Brussels, joining star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra in the season-ending event, as he is listed among 12 participants for the winner-takes-all race on Friday.

Sable finished 14th in the overall Diamond League standings with three points he garnered from two meetings. But four athletes ranked higher than him — Lamecha Girma (injured) of Ethiopia, Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, Ryuji Mura of Japan and Hillary Bor of the USA — are not taking part in the final.

The season finale will be a two-day affair on September 13-14. The men’s 3000m steeplechase is scheduled for September 13 while the men’s javelin throw event will he held the next day.

Five meetings out of the 14 in the DL series across the world this season had men’s 3000m steeplechase event.

The 29-year-old Sable had finished sixth with a national record time of 8 minutes, 9.91 seconds — bettering his own earlier mark — in the Paris leg on July 7. He was 14th at the Silesia leg with a time of 8:29.96 on August 25. He had finished 11th at the Paris Games in 8:14.18 after becoming the first Indian to enter the Olympics final in men’s 3000m steeplechase.