That's a wrap for our coverage of the Doha Diamond League 2026 in Qatar. Neeraj Chopra made his long-awaited comeback after nine months out of action. But Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage stole the show in the end, proving why he is not only the future, but also  the present of the javelin world.

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Neeraj Chopra was not at his phenomenal best today, but given that it was his first competitive appearance in nine months, he can certainly be happy with the performance. A best throw of 85.69m was only 0.30m behind the Top 3, and he made light work of his bid to qualify for the Commonwealth Games 2026, doing so on just his second attempt. 

Next up: Commonwealth Games!

Here's the final Top 3 after all six rounds of the Doha Diamond League 2026 in Qatar:

1. Rumesh Pathirage (Sri Lanka) - 88.68m
2. Anderson Peters (Grenada) - 86.38m
3. Curtis Thompson (USA) - 85.99m

Rumesh Pathirage secures first at Doha Diamond League 2026! First he conquered Rome, now he makes his mark in Doha. What an incredible streak this young man is on. The 23-year-old appears to be the new breakout star in the world of javelin.

None of the Top 3 improves in the final round, confirming Pathirage's spot at the top. Neeraj Chopra finishes a respectable fourth, with a best throw of 85.69m.

The sixth and final round of the Doha Diamond League is about to begin. Rumesh Pathirage leads with a throw of 88.68m, Anderson Peters is second, and Curtis Thompson is third.

Another opportunity for Neeraj Chopra goes to waste as his fifth throw is a foul one. He has just one more chance to try and beat the spectacular 88.68m throw by Rumesh Pathirage. The Sri Lankan throws 84.47m on his fifth attempt, but his top spot is safe for now, as no one else improves either.

Foul throws by not just Neeraj, but also third-placed Curtis Thompson and fifth-placed Artur Felfner in the fifth round. That is the end of Neeraj's road.

Rumesh Pathirage takes the lead! The Sri Lankan javelin star comes up with a sensational 88.68m throw on his fourth attempt to go straight to top spot! That throw knocks Neeraj Chopra out of the Top 3, as the Indian fails to improve, managing 83.45m on his fourth try.

Here's the Top 3 after the first three rounds of the Doha Diamond League 2026 in Qatar:

1. Anderson Peters (Grenada) - 86.38m
2. Curtis Thompson (USA) - 85.99m
3. Neeraj Chopra (India) - 85.69m

Neeraj Chopra is improving with every throw at the moment! He takes another leap with an 85.69m throw in the third round, and enters the Top 3 once again. The 28-year-old is going from strength to strength in Doha, and is firmly putting himself in contention for first place.

Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage improves with a throw of 84.63m on his second attempt, knocking Neeraj Chopra out of the Top 3. But here comes Anderson Peters! Peters goes top with a superb throw of 86.38m! That's his season best too. It's heating up now in Doha!

Neeraj Chopra has secured qualification for the Commonwealth Games! He puts in a throw of 82.77m on his second attempt, which is good enough to take him up to third spot, and is also more than the 82.61m barrier he needed to break to seal CWG qualification.

USA's Curtis Thompson has taken an early lead with a superb throw of 85.99m. That's his season best! We spoke about him being one of the big challengers ahead of the event, and he has proven his ability straight away. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage is up to third with a throw of 82.62m. 

And the first round comes to an end. Neeraj Chopra is one of only two participants to make a foul throw.

Oh dear, this is the worst-possible start for Neeraj Chopra! He starts off with a foul throw, and his attempt is invalid. Anderson Peters is on the board with a throw of 82.82m, while Keshorn Walcott is not far behind with a throw of 81.47m. Now, we wait for Rumesh Pathirage's first throw.

While a number of today's competitors have personal bests in excess of 90m, a look at their season bests might give us a better idea of who will be Neeraj Chopra's biggest challengers today. Apart from Pathirage (92.62m), the next-best season best is held by Grenada's Anderson Peters (86.08m). Then come USA's Curtis Thompson (85.33m) and Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch (85.24m).

Neeraj, of course, does not have a season best, having not participated in a competitive javelin event in nine months.

We are not too far away from the start of the Doha Diamond League 2026 in Qatar. Neeraj Chopra is hoping to make a victorious comeback to competitive javelin, after nine months out of action. At stake for him is a Commonwealth Games spot as well, which he can secure with a throw of 82.61m or more.

While the focus is on Neeraj and Pathirage, we must not count out some of the other star names taking part today. Anderson Peters, Julius Yego, Curtis Thompson and Jakub Vadlejch are all capable of fighting for the first spot today, and will give Neeraj and Pathirage a real run for their money.

We are around 30 minutes away from the scheduled start of the Doha Diamond League 2026. The official start time is 11:14 PM IST, however we wait to see exactly when the action begins. Stay tuned for all the live updates.

Others in the nine-man star-studded field are World Championships bronze-medallist Curtis Thompson of the USA, Julius Yego of Kenya, Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia, Mohamed Huseein Ahmed Sameh of Egypt and Artur Felfner. In May last year, the two-time Olympic medallist Indian had breached the coveted 90m mark at the same venue. He had recorded 90.23m to finish second behind Julian Weber (91.06m) of Germany.

Neeraj Chopra and Rumesh Pathirage have faced off only two times in the past, with Neeraj winning once and Pathirage once. Neeraj won gold in the NC Classic, where Pathirage finished third. But Neeraj came a disappointing eighth at the Tokyo World Championships 2025, while Pathirage finished seventh.

Ahead of the Doha Diamond League, Neeraj Chopra admitted that the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2026 will be a tough battle. Neeraj will be up against both Rumesh Pathirage and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem at the CWG. Both Pathirage and Nadeem have thrown in excess of 92m in recent times.

"All of them have thrown 90m, so the Commonwealth Games will not be less (competitive) than the Olympics or World Championships; it will be a really tough competition," Chopra said during the presser at Doha.

Neeraj Chopra has happy memories of the Doha Diamond League. Last year, Neeraj broke the 90m barrier for the first time in his career, throwing 90.23m. However, despite the historic throw, he finished second, as Germany's Julian Weber went past 91m.

This will be Neeraj's fourth appearance in the Doha leg of the Diamond League.

Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage is the hottest name in the javelin world right now. The 23-year-old won gold in the recent Rome Diamond League with a sensational 92.62m throw. Today, the battle for gold could come down to an Asian fight between Neeraj and Pathirage.

Neeraj Chopra is eyeing a spot in India's squad for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2026. Neeraj has been provisionally named in India's 32-man track and field squad, but needs to throw at least 82.61m today to guarantee his qualification.

Neeraj Chopra is making his comeback to competitive javelin after nine months. His last competitive appearance was at the World Championships 2025, last September. Since then, Neeraj has also suffered from a back injury. Can he fight for gold today? Let's hope Neeraj proves that class is permanent!

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Doha Diamond League 2026. It is a special day, as India's javelin star Neeraj Chopra will make his long-awaited competitive comeback. He is also looking to confirm his spot in India's Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2026 team. 

Stay tuned to NDTV Sports for all the live updates from the event!