Paris Olympics 2024: Neeraj Chopra qualifies for the men's javelin throw final

Neeraj Chopra (Pic: File Pic)

Defending champion Neeraj Chopra qualified for the men's javelin throw final of the Olympic Games with a season's best effort of 89.34m here on Tuesday.

Much like his performance in the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra crossed the automatic qualifying mark of 84m in his opening throw at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The other Indian in the fray, Kishore Jena, is unlikely to make the 12-man final after managing a best throw of 80.73m. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, also qualified for the finals with a throw of 86.59m.

Indian javelin thrower and Asian Games silver medalist Kishore Jena finished ninth in Group A of the men's javelin throw qualification round, failing to advance to the medal round at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024.

Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Vinesh Phogat defeats Yui Susaki, enters quarterfinal

Kishore's best attempt of 80.73 m could give him only the ninth spot. Only four competitors from group A advanced to the medal round. To advance to the final round for the medal, the athlete will have to finish among the top 12 best athletes across both groups A and B, as per Olympics.com.

Jena's best attempt came in his first throw. His second attempt was not deemed to be valid and the third attempt was only 80.21.

Vinesh Phogat who is looking after India's Paris Olympics 2024 campaign in wrestling also qualified for the quarter-finals. She defeated world champion and reigning Japan's gold-medallist Yui Susaki.

It was Susaki's first-ever loss in her international career which makes Vinesh's achievement even more remarkable.

In the first round, Vinesh started off on a cautious note, occasionally trying to unsettle Susaki with a push-back on the head. However, at the stroke of the first round, she conceded a point for passivity and it could have been 0-3 when she nearly lost her footing. But the Indian managed to defend herself.

Being 0-2 in the second round, Phogat was about to lose. But when it seemed to end, Vinesh Phogat pushed her out of the mat and claimed two points.

(With PTI Inputs)