I still need to throw little bit farther: Neeraj Chopra after finishing second in DL Final

Zurich, Aug 29 (IANS) After finishing second in the Diamond League Final, India's javelin star Neeraj Chopra admitted that he needs to better his throw heading to the World Championships next month in Tokyo to defend his title.

Chopra was far behind his season best throw in the Diamond League Final and only produced a best effort of 85.01m on the final attempt to finish second. It was his third consecutive runner-up finish in the competition.

"The timing was not so good today, run-up was not so good. There is something I didn't find today, but I still have three weeks for the World Championships, and I will try my best," Chopra said after the event.

"This was not too bad. But we are getting very close to the World Championships, so I still need to throw a little bit farther. There were a few things that went well, but still, there were things which did not go that well.

"In the last attempt, I still managed to throw 85. But I am very happy for Julian, he managed to throw really far, and to show 91m was really good. We will see in three weeks. I still need to train a little bit. In this sport, we do not know. It depends on the day."

Germany's Julian Weber fired a strong warning ahead of the World Championships by delivering a stunning meeting record throw of 91.51 metres to take the title. The 30-year-old opened the competition with a massive 91.37m effort - his personal best at the time - before improving it by 14 centimetres on his second attempt, setting a new lifetime best and world-leading mark. With two exceptional throws on the night, Weber firmly cemented his status as a top contender for next month’s World Championships.

Chopra acknowledged that it was a challenging day for him on the field. "It's going well and today was a hard day. There is always a harder day in sports, so today was a hard day for me, but I still managed in the last over 85 metres."

Chopra, who has been managing a persistent right groin injury, said he is in good shape ahead of the upcoming athletic pinnacle in Tokyo, emphasising that his main focus is on perfectly timing his throw.

"I feel good and I just need to find some good timing," he added.

Chopra had qualified for the Diamond League Final by virtue of his first place in Paris in June with an effort of 88.16m. He had produced his personal best and a national record throw of 90.25m, his first effort beyond the 90m mark, in Doha in May, and was hoping to cross the 90m mark again in Zurich.

--IANS

ab/bc