Neeraj Chopra beats Germany’s Julian Weber with 88.16m effort after losing to him in last two tournaments; Indian javelin star confident of another 90m throw this season
Neeraj Chopra at the Paris Diamond League on Friday. Pic/Diamond League X account
Olympic medal-winning Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra clinched his first Diamond League title in two years, upstaging German rival Julian Weber without having to hit the 90m mark in a strong field here on Friday.
Strong start
Chopra, 27, won the title with his first round throw of 88.16m in a star-studded field, which featured five players from the coveted 90m club.
His second throw measured 85.10m, but the Indian fell foul in his next three attempts before recording 82.89m in his sixth and final effort.
Weber finished second with his opening throw of 87.88m, while Luiz Mauricio Da Silva of Brazil finished third with his third round attempt of 86.62m.
Julian Weber
Chopra had won his last Diamond League title in Lausanne in June 2023 with a throw of 87.66m. After that, he finished second in six Diamond League meetings, including the most recent one in Doha where he breached the 90m mark for the first time (90.23m), but still lost out to Weber (91.06m).
The German had also got the better of Chopra at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet in Warsaw, Poland where he beat Chopra (84.14m) with a throw of 86.12m.
“I am happy with my throw....My run-up was really fast today. I can’t control my speed [of the javelin], but I’m happy with the result and with the first position,” the Haryana-lad, who has a gold and silver in back-to-back Olympics, said about his recent result.
This was Chopra’s first win in the Paris leg of the prestigious series. He last competed in the Paris Diamond League in 2017 as a junior world champion and finished fifth with a throw of 84.67m.
Despite the result, Chopra wasn’t entirely satisfied with his effort, claiming he still has much work to do if he wants to breach the 90m mark on a consistent basis.
Room for improvement
“Yes, I need some more control when I throw. I am working on it in training. I need a strong core and a stronger body for throwing [90m]. But I‘m expecting a 90m throw again this season. I believe I can do it,” said Chopra.
The Indian javelin thrower will be in action next at the Golden Spike athletic meet in Ostrava on June 24. He will then feature in the NC Classic in Bengaluru on July 5.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
