Eugene: Aldous Paul became the first triple jump athlete from India to reach the finals of the World Athletics Championship triple jump. Paul qualified for the triple jump final with a jump of 16.68 meters. Finished sixth in Group-A and 12th overall in qualification. The triple jump final will be held on Sunday at 6.50 am IST.
Paul, who only arrived here a few days ago due to visa issues, has a season’s best of 16.99m, which Paul achieved at the Federation Cup held in April. Two other athletes from India, Praveen Chitrawal and Abdullah Abubakar, also participated in the event, although neither made it to the finals. Praveen jumped 16.49 meters while Abdullah jumped 16.45 meters. Chitrawal finished eighth in Group-A and 17th overall. While Abubakar finished 10th in Group B and 19th overall. A qualification mark of 17.05 meters was set to qualify for the final. Only the top 12 athletes qualified for the finals.
Neeraj Chopra and Rohit Yadav in javelin final
Eugene: Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra qualified for the finals of the World Athletics Championships for the first time with a throw of 88.39 meters in his first attempt here, while another Indian javelin thrower Rohit Yadav also qualified for the finals by finishing 11th out of the top 12, a new for India. History was made. Strong medal contender Neeraj started the qualification in Group-A with a throw of 88.39 meters in the first attempt. This was the third best throw of his career. He finished second to defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Peters threw 89.91 meters in Group B. Neeraj said this was a good start, I will give my hundred percent in the final. Every day is different. We don’t know who will make what kind of throw on which day. He said that there was a little problem with my run-up but the throw was good, many players are in good form.
Neeraj Chopra’s qualification round lasted only a few minutes, as he got the automatic qualification mark in the first attempt and thus did not need to throw the remaining two throws. Rohit threw 80.42 meters in Group B. He finished sixth in Group B and 11th overall. His second throw was fouled and he managed to throw 77.32 meters in his final attempt. His season’s best is 82.54m, which he achieved in winning the silver medal at the Inter State Championships last month. The final of this competition will now be held on Sunday at 7.05 am IST.
