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World Championships: Neeraj’s title defence ends in disappointment, Sachin impresses on debut
Neeraj Chopra finished eighth at the World Championships, failing to defend his title, while Sachin Yadav placed fourth with a personal best.
New Delhi: Neeraj Chopra’s title defence at World Championships ended in a whimper with the Paris Olympics silver medallist finishing a disappointing eighth in Tokyo on Thursday.
Coming into the competition as one of the medal prospects, the two-time Worlds medallist looked out of rhythm and failed to produce a single significant throw, registering a best of 84.03m that came in his second attempt.
Sachin Yadav, the other Indian in the final, ended a creditable fourth, crossing his personal best (85.16) thrice with a best of 86.27m that came in his opening attempt.
Chopra opened his campaign with a modest 83.65m and by the time the first sequence ended, the Tokyo Olympics champion found himself in unfamiliar territory. Sitting in the sixth spot after the first round, Chopra still had enough attempts left to make up but the fluidity and speed that have come to become his hallmark had gone missing.
Chopra’s 84.03m second throw was a slight improvement on his opening effort but by the time the second round ended, Chopra had slipped to the eighth spot while Trinidad and Tobago’s London 2012 champion Keshorn Walcott took the pole with 87.83m.
Chopra fouled on his third try and just about hung on to the eighth place. With ten of the 12 finalists advancing after the first three rounds, it was becoming increasingly tougher for Chopra as well as for the Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem who languished at 10th.
The field was reduced to eight after the fourth round with Nadeem being the first top draw to crash out. Needing a big throw to jump back in contention, Chopra could produce only a 82.86m throw -- just about enough to sneak in on eighth position -- even as Walcott consolidated his grip on the top with a season’s best of 88.16m. Sachin’s fourth throw of 84.90m placed him fourth as both Indians made the final eight.
However, Chopra’s reign as the world champion ended on his next throw -- which he fouled -- while Sachin ended his debut World Championships with an 80.95m.
Walcott, the 2012 Olympic champion, took the gold with 88.16m followed by Grenada’s Anderson Peters (87.38m) and USA’s Curtis Thompson (86.67m).
