Neeraj Chopra qualifies for maiden World Championships final with stunning first throw

Eugene (usa), July 22

Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra qualified for his maiden World Championships final with a stunning first throw as India enjoyed a historic day, with two Indian javelin throwers making it to the medal round here on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Chopra opened the Group A qualification round by sending his spear to 88.39 metres for his career’s third-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% 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. “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 personal bests this year. They are all in excellent shape.”

It was a good start. I’ll give my 100% 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. —Neeraj Chopra, Javelin Thrower

Chopra’s qualification round lasted only a few minutes as he did not need to take the remaining two throws after breaching the automatic qualification mark in his first attempt. A competitor gets three throws in the qualification round.

Rohit Yadav also made it to the final after finishing sixth in Group B, and 11th overall, with a first-round throw of 80.42m. His second throw was a foul and he managed a modest 77.32m in his last attempt.

Paul in final

In other events, Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final with an effort of 16.68m. He finished sixth in Group A qualification round and 12th overall to make the cut.

The two other Indians in the field, Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker, failed to make it after below-par jumps of 16.49m and 16.45m, respectively. Chithravel finished eighth in Group A and 17th overall, while Aboobacker ended 10th in Group B and 19th overall.

Those who cleared 17.05m or the 12 best performers across the two qualification round groups qualified for the final. — PTI

3If Chopra wins in the final on Sunday, he will become only the third male javelin thrower to follow the Olympics success with a World Championships gold after Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen (2008-09) and world record holder Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic in 2000-01 and 1992-93.

Running wild: Lyles & Jackson cement USA-Jamaica domination in sprint events

Eugene: Noah Lyles retained his 200 metres title as the US sprinters secured their second podium sweep while Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made it a 1-2 finish for Jamaica in the women’s event at the World Championships on Thursday.

Lyles, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, scorched to victory in 19.31 seconds to become the third-fastest athlete of all time over the distance and break four-time Olympics champion Michael Johnson’s national record. Five days after Fred Kerley led a US 1-2-3 in the 100m, Lyles produced another dominant performance to clinch gold.

1 With USA claiming the 100m and 200m, it is the first time a country has swept both men’s sprint events in the same year at the Worlds.

Lyles’ victory came moments after Jackson gave the Jamaican women another sprint gold, setting a championship record of 21.45s in the 200m — the second fastest time in history. Newly crowned 100m gold medallist Fraser-Pryce missed out on a second sprint double after finishing second. reuters

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