World Athletics C’ships: Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav reach javelin final; Eldhose Paul in triple jump

Neeraj Chopra needed just one attempt to reach the final of the men’s javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday.

Making it a memorable morning were Rohit Yadav and Eldhose Paul.

The 21-year-old Yadav also joined Chopra in the men’s javelin final with a solid throw of 80.42m. Chopra’s effort was the 2nd best of the day, and Yadav’s was 11th.

Paul made it to the final of the men’s triple jump in 12th place, with a best attempt of 16.68m.

Javelin delight

Going first in Group A, Chopra’s appearance at the Hayward Field was as brief as it could be. He launched the spear 88.39m, just 1.55m short of his Personal Best set earlier this year, gave a couple of thumbs up to the camera and was done for the day.

Having missed out in the final in London 2017 and skipping Doha 2019 due to his injury rehab, this will be Chopra’s first appearance in the World Championships final.

Automatic qualifying mark was set at 83.50 (Q) or at least best 12 qualify to Final. Only Chopra and Tokyo silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch (85.23m) got past that mark in Group A. In Group B Anderson Peters (89.91m) and Julian Weber (87.28m) crossed the automatic qualification mark with their first attempts as well.

In action Group B later on was Rohit Yadav, who is among the group of upcoming Indian javelin throwers to have crossed the 80m mark. He didn’t clear his PB, but got close enough and ensured a place in the top 12.

In men’s triple jump, while there was disappointment for Praveen Chitravel and Abdulla Aboobacker (who had both jumped beyond 17m this season), it was Paul who made it through to the final, getting close to his PB of 16.99m. Praveen’s 16.49 placed him 17th while Abdulla’s 16.45 placed him 19th overall.

Paul became the first Indian man to reach the triple jump final in the tournament’s history, as per the Sports Authority of India.

It is worth noting that Neeraj Chopra’s 88.39m in the men’s javelin qualification was the third best effort of his career. The top three throws of his career have all come in the last few weeks, starting from his season opener at Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland last month.

On Wednesday evening in Eugene, India’s women’s javelin national record holder Annu Rani managed to find her best attempt of the day just in time to reach the final. This will be Annu Rani’s second consecutive appearance at the final of the World Championships, as she made the cut in Doha as well in 2019.

More to follow