Zurich: Newly-crowned Asian champion Neeraj Chopra produced yet another impressive performance but missed the bronze medal by a whisker, finishing fourth in the prestigious Diamond League Final here Friday.
The 20-year-old Indian, who was competing in the season’s Diamond League Series Finale just three days after winning Asian Games gold in Jakarta, sent the spear to a best distance of 85.73m to end at fourth position in the eight-man event here last night.
Chopra, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was at the third position till the fifth and penultimate round but the reigning Olympic champion Thomas Rohler of Germany came up with a 85.76m effort in his last attempt to pip the Indian by a mere 0.03 meter.
The star Indian could not repeat his national record shattering throw of 88.06m in Jakarta but his effort here earned him USD 6000 besides the enormous amount of experience he got by rubbing shoulders with the best in the business.
Meanwhile, a third-round monster throw of 91.44m from Germany’s Andreas Hofmann earned him his first big international javelin prize as he claimed one of the 16 Diamond Trophies on offer in the first of the Diamond League Finals here. Estonia’s Magnus Kirt took second place with 87.57m.
Chopra will compete in the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic from September 8-9 as a member of the Asia Pacific team before winding up the international season. He will pair with Taipei’s Cheng Chao-Tsun, who is the only Asian to have 90m-plus throw.
Mohammed Anas (men’s 400m), Jinson Johnson (men’s 8800m), Arpinder Singh (men’s triple jump), Hima Das (women’s 400m), PU Chitra (women’s 1500m) and Sudha Singh (women’s 3000m steeplechase) are the other Indians taking part in the Continental Cup.
