Neeraj Chopra qualifies for World Championships finals with first throw

Defending champion Neeraj Chopra stormed into the men's javelin throw final of the World Championships in style after clearing the automatic qualification mark of 84.50m in his very first throw here on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old two time Olympic-medallist sent his spear to 84.85m in his first throw in the Group A of the qualification round.

In fact, Chopra was the first thrower and he packed up after making it to the final. Those who touch the automatic qualifying mark of 84.50m or the best 12 finishers will make the final round to be held on Thursday.

Chopra has been clubbed with German star Julian Weber, who also qualified with a throw of 87.21m, Keshorn Walcott, Jakub Vadlejch and Sachin Yadav in the 19-man Group A qualification round on Wednesday.

The 18-strong Group B will feature Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Anderson Peters, Julius Yego, Luiz Da Silva, Rohit Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and rising Sri Lankan Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage among others.

In the last edition in Budapest, Chopra had thrown 88.17m to win the gold, while Nadeem (87.82m) and Vadlejch (86.67m) had pocketed silver and bronze respectively.

Chopra will aim to become the third male javelin thrower in history to defend the World Championships gold. Czech legend Jan Zelezny (1993, 1995), who is now Chopra's coach, and Peters (2019, 2022) are the other two who have won the world championships crown on two consecutive occasions.

Chopra is set to face Nadeem for the first time after the 2024 Paris Olympics, giving him a chance to avenge his second-place finish in the French capital. Nadeem had won gold in Paris with a monster throw of 92.97m while Chopra had a best of 89.45m that night.