Watch: Neeraj Chopra Reaches Maiden World Athletics Championships Final With 1st Throw
World Athletics Championships: Neeraj Chopra reached his maiden final in the tournament with a massive 88.39m throw.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra on Friday sealed a berth in the final of men's javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and all it took was just one attempt. The 24-year-old's first throw of 88.39m was enough to take him to the final, as he breached the automatic qualification mark of 83.50m. Chopra was in Group A in qualifying and was the first throw, and continued his brilliant form in the season as he booked a spot in Sunday's final.
Watch: Neeraj Chopra's throw that saw him qualify for his maiden World Championships final
Straight onto the final
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 22, 2022
Olympic javelin champion @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳 throws an automatic qualifier of 88.39m on his first attempt!#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/tOzsEwkxLS
Neeraj topped Group A with his throw, although Grenada's Anderson Peters bettered his throw with his 89.91m attempt later in the day when the athletes in Group B slugged it out.
Apart from Peters and Chopra, only two others secured direct qualification, while the rest qualified on the basis of having finished in the best 12 among the athletes in the qualifying round.
Julian Weber, with his 87.58m throw, and Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch (85.23m) were the two other athletes who crossed the 83.50m mark.
"It was a good start. I'll give my 100% in the final," Chopra said after the qualifying round.
"There is a little bit of zigzag in my run-up. I shook a little bit, but it was a good throw," he said about his throw.
Neeraj Chopra came into the World Championships in red-hot form, having twice broken the national record.
He recorded a 89.30m throw on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland before sending his spear to 89.94m last month at prestigious Diamond League in Stockholm last month
In between, he had won the javelin throw event at Kuortane Games in Finland with a throw of 86.69m under wet and slippery conditions.
Given the form he is in, the Tokyo Olympics champion is expected to script history and become only the second Indian and first male player from the country to win a medal in the World Athletics Championships.