CHENNAI: The Budapest sky was blue, the sun was beating down the track as Neeraj Chopra stood checking his javelin and looking towards the runway and the final destination of the projectile. The World Championships this time had been quite a sad story for India. However, like always when Neeraj is there, there is always hope; dollops of it. In fact, at the world stage, he almost seems unbeatable. On Friday, too, he looked focussed and was extremely sure about the job at hand. He hurled the spear to 88.77m, way beyond the qualification mark of 83m and walked away. Even as the bunch of throwers in both groups struggled to even cross the 80m mark, forget about 83m, he did not need to complete his quota of three throws. He comfortably topped the overall qualification.
If others struggled to cross 80m, two other Indians crossed that mark with some effort — DP Manu (81.31m) in Group A and Kishore Jena (80.55m) in Group B. What was expected for Neeraj, he delivered but the other two Indians in the fray were the story of the day. For the first time, they assured India three throwers in world championships final. Some much needed balm to soothe the pain. Just to add to the enormity of the the achievement, Jena was not even supposed to be part of the team after his visa was denied days before he was supposed to travel. However, after the intervention of the government, he did get it but days after the contingent had left.
Like always, Neeraj considers his first throw crucial and he was concentrating on trying to qualify early. This, according to him, he has learnt from the London worlds where he tried to preserve his energy for the final and finished outside the automatic qualification mark. “I try to qualify early,” he told journalists at the venue after qualifying. The Olympic champion also revealed that because of the conditions in Budapest (it’s hot) and late morning session, he did not expend much energy during warm-up. “Did some routine stretching and one or two throws in the stadium,” he said. Since he was throwing last (18 throwers), he paced his warmup as well. As for pressure, he said it was part of the game. His coach Klaus Bartonietz too was happy with the effort as it’s his season best and he felt this would provide a good base for the final. However, one has to manage the final.
ALSO READ | After Lausanne, Neeraj aiming for worlds title
Neeraj also spoke highly about Manu and felt he should be doing well in the final as well. Miles away, one person who is eagerly waiting for the final is Manu’s coach Kashinath Naik. He is in touch with Manu and in fact had spoken to him after the qualifying event. “It is a proud moment that three Indians have qualified for the world championships final for the first time,” said the coach who could not travel to Budapest. “We have talent in the country and it is now reflecting in the results too. India is turing into a javelin hub and after Neeraj, everyone is dreaming big. I have two more throwers who can throw 80m. All of them say if Neeraj bhai can, so can we. Also, facilities in centres including that of SAI and ASI have improved a lot.”
Speaking about Manu, who finished sixth among 36 throwers (one did not start), Kashinath felt Sunday will be a different day. “If he can throw as much as he does during practice (about 86m) it will be very good,” he said. “He is feeling fine and we speak about tactics as well. He has been improving and can do better.” He also talked about the 23-year-old’s falling habit. “If Neeraj has stopped falling less, Manu has started falling,” said Kashinath, who hopes his ward finishes the final in a strong note.
Jena, who finished ninth among the 12 qualified throwers, said he was happy to be in the final, especially after spending sleepless nights when he was denied a visa before departure. Jena’s Group B was much more competitive with eight throwers qualifying and two attaining automatic qualification mark of 83m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who has a personal best of 90.18m, got the maximum of 86.79m (season’s best) in his last attempt. While Czech Jakub Vadlejch finished behind him with 83.50. The two are behind Neeraj.
