India’s Davinder Singh created a new record when reached the final of the javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships with a throw of 84.22 m in his final qualification attempt. He finished fifth among 16 competitors in his group and seventh overall.
A minimum throw of 83m, in three attempts, is needed to enter the finals directly. Singh started strong with a 82.22m throw on his first attempt, falling narrowly short of the mark. On his second attempt , he threw a distance of 82.14, coming very close once again. But Singh held his nerve and clinched the spot on his third and final attempt.
His qualification throw was better than that of 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist Thomas Rohler and silver medallist Julius Yego.
Meanwhile, it was curtains for junior world champion Neeraj Chopra as he failed to reach the final, finishing seventh among 16 throwers in the Group A qualification.
The junior world record holder – playing in his first senior world championship – came very close with a throw of 82.26m on his first attempt. His second attempt was a foul throw and thereby disqualified. In his third and final attempt, he threw an underwhelming 80.54m. His personal best, set when he won a gold medal at the U-20 World Championships last year, is 86.48m.
Despite his seventh-place finish, there was a slim chance of him reaching the final, dependent on the Group B qualification. However, six throwers already crossed the qualification mark on the first attempt, thereby ending Chopra’s London campaign.
Germany’s Johannes Vetter threw an incredible 91.20m to top the Group A qualifications. Vetter leads this year’s throw records with a massive 94.44m effort, which also places him second on the all-time list. Kenya’s defending champion Julius Yego (83.57), Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki (85.97), Qatar’s Ahmed Magour (83.83) and Poland’s Marcin Krukowski (83.49) were the other athletes to qualify directly from Group A.
Czech Republic’s Petr Frydyrch (86.22) topped Group B, followed by Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago (86.01), Germany’s Andreas Hofmann (85.62), Ioánnis Kiriazis from Greece (84.60) and Davinder, all of whom earned direct qualification.
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