New Delhi: Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra would be eyeing greater heights at the ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet in Poland beginning on May 23, Friday after breaching the coveted 90m mark at the Doha Diamond League last week. India’s poster boy Chopra achieved the big feat by sending his spear to 90.23m at the Doha league, thereby getting to the landmark which was long pending.
Despite a sensational throw at the event, Neeraj had to settle for a second place finish after Germany athlete Julian Weber produced a 91.06m effort in his last attempt to push the Indian star to the second position, who was leading till the last. For Weber also, this was the athlete’s maiden 90m throw.
The Indian star after crossing the 88m mark in 2018, had the elusive 90m barrier on his radar which came after a gap of 7 years. After registering the elusive feat, Chopra has made it clear that it was just the beginning and he will be aiming for farther distances in the season ahead. The highest point in the season will come in September at the World Championships in Tokyo ,where he would be defending his title.
Weber, Anderson challenge for Neeraj in Poland
An European champion in 2022 and silver-medallist in 2024, Weber, would come haunting again in the Poland meet along with two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who finished third in Doha with a throw of 84m.
Apart from these two athletes, Polish national record holder Marcin Krukowski (PB: 89.55m) and compatriots Cyprian Mrzyglod (PB: 84.97m) and Dawid Wegner (PB: 82.21m), Andrian Mardare (86.66m) of Moldova and Ukraine’s Artur Felfner (PB: 84.32m) will complete the eight-man field at the event.
Chopra is no longer troubled by the groin niggle that affected his performance in the last few years and the javelin star also has much more confident after roping in the iconic Jan Zelezny as his coach, who holds the world record for longest throw.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra would be eyeing greater heights at the ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet in Poland beginning on May 23. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
