CHENNAI: After a little delay, Neeraj Chopra was finally in action at the Doha Diamond League late on Friday. Even as evening temperature hovered around 33 degrees Celsius, the throwers went about their chores with a star-studded field looking for some much-needed practice before the Commonwealth Games next month.
Given his lofty standards, Neeraj had a modest opening in the first two throws but he gained ground with his third that measured 85.69m, an effort that pushed him to third behind Grenada's Anderson Peters, who managed a better throw of 86.38m in his second attempt.
The latest 90m-club sensation, Rumesh Pathirage, climbed to the top with his fourth throw of 88.68m. Neeraj eventually finished fourth, a position he was not accustomed with before the World Championships in Tokyo last year. Neeraj, the greatest track and field athlete India has produced, is still struggling to find his impeccable form.
After parting ways with his long-time coach Klaus Bartonietz with whom he won double Olympic and Worlds medals, the 28-year-old worked with Jan Zelezny until Tokyo last year. He preferred to train on his own alongside his Indian coach, who had known him for years. Neeraj, however, did manage to cross the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark of 82.61m on the day. Though he was named in the India team for the Games recently, it was subject to clearing the mark.
For the first time, he finished out of top three in Tokyo last year and now he has started off with a fourth-place effort. With the season ahead, he would want to polish his technique.
Neeraj is coming back after multiple injuries and delayed his throws training. He last threw in a competition at Tokyo last year where he finished eighth. That was nine months ago.
On Thursday, he said that after the Worlds he had nursed a shoulder injury as well. "In our lives, we have this injury and we try to save that injury and then we have another one. I injured my ankle and somewhere in the shoulder then I sat together with my team, my physio to find a remedy. I started throwing one-and-a-half months ago," he had said during the press conference before the event.
