Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav, Eldhose Paul qualify for World Athletics Championships finals-Sports News , Firstpost

Neeraj Chopra competes in qualifications for the men’s javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships on Thursday. AP Photo

Eugene: Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra qualified for his maiden World Championships final with a stunning first attempt throw of 88.39m. Also progressing to the javelin throw medal showdown was youngster Rohit Yadav. In men’s triple jump, Eldhose Paul registered his place in the final.

Chopra, 24, strong contender for the medal, opened the men’s javelin throw Group A qualification round and sent his spear to 88.39m for his third career-best throw.

Placed in Group B, 21-year-old Yadav qualified by virtue of being among the top-12 athletes. His first attempt of 80.42m carried him into the final. In his second attempt he was fouled and on the third his spear went a distance of 77.32m.

Those who clear 83.50m or 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualify for the final.

Anderson Peters of Grenada, who pipped Chopra at the Stockholm Diamond League, was among the four automatic qualifiers for the final. Also progressing by meeting the minimum mark were Julian Weber (87.28m) and Jakub Vadlejch (85.23m).

The medal round will be held on Sunday (7:05 am IST).

In men’s triple jump, Eldhose Paul made it three Indians qualifying for the final on Day 7 of the World Athletics Championships.

Paul’s mark of 16.68m ensured he was among the 12 best performers even if not meeting the 17.05m automatic qualification mark. His three attempts stood at: 16.12m, 16.68m and 16.34m.

There was no such joy for Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker. Chithravel’s 16.49m and Aboobacker’s 16.45m marks didn’t carry them through.

(with inputs from PTI)

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