Eugene: Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra qualified for his maiden final of the World Championships with a brilliant first attempt of 88.39m. Also making progress in javelin throw medal performance was youngster Rohit Yadav. Aldous Paul secured his place in the men’s triple jump in the final.
A medal contender, the 24-year-old Chopra opened the men’s javelin throw Group A qualification round and sent his spear to 88.39m for the third best throw of his career.
Placed in Group B, the 21-year-old Yadav qualified among the top 12 athletes. His first attempt of 80.42m took him to the final. On his second attempt, he was fouled; on the third, his javelin covered a distance of 77.32m.
Those who clear 83.50m or 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualify for the final.
Anderson Peters of Grenada, who pipped Chopra at the Stockholm Diamond League, was among the four automatic qualifiers for the final. Also progressing by meeting the minimum mark were Julian Weber (87.28m) and Jakub Vadlejch (85.23m).
The medal round will be held on Sunday (7:05 am IST). In the men’s triple jump, Eldhose Paul made it three Indians qualifying for the final on Day 7 of the World Athletics Championships. Paul’s mark of 16.68m ensured he was among the 12 best performers even if not meeting the 17.05m automatic qualification mark. His three attempts stood at: 16.12m, 16.68m and 16.34m.
There was no such joy for Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker. Chithravel’s 16.49m and Aboobacker’s 16.45m marks didn’t carry them through.