Neeraj Chopra misses first spot by 0.02 metres in Doha Diamond League

Neeraj Chopra clinched the second spot in the Doha Diamond League after missing out on the top spot by a mere 0.02 metres, on May 10. 

Chopra finished with a best throw of 88.36 metres, while Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch finished first with 88.38 and Grenada’s Anderson Peters ended third with 86.62.

Neeraj Chopra said he was happy after finishing second in the League. He, however, felt his efforts weren’t top notch and he could have done better. 

Next, the 26-year-old will take part in the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and sounded confident about putting up a better show.

Neeraj did not make the best of starts as he made a foul in his first attempt. In his second throw, the youngster showed nerves of steel to move to second position with a throw of 84.93 metres, only behind Jakub Vadlejch’s 85.87 metres. But a throw of 85.75 metres from Anderson Peters pushed 26-year-old Neeraj to third.

Neeraj got back to second with a throw of 86.24, but Jakub kept raising the bar with throws of 86.93 and 88.38. In his fourth attempt, Neeraj threw 86.18 metres and stayed at second spot. In his last attempt, Neeraj threw 88.36 metres, but fell 0.02 metres short of Jakub’s 88.38 metres.

Kishore Jena who managed a throw of 75.72 to start with and got disqualified before the fourth attempt, along with Neeraj Chopra have already booked their berth for the Paris Olympics.

After Doha, the second leg of the Diamond League moves to Paris on July 7. The third and fourth legs in Lausanne (August 22) and Zurich (September 5) will take place after the Olympics. Brussels will host the final on September 13 and 14.