Once again, his first throw turned out to be his best.
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Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra defeated Grenada’s World champion Anderson Peters to win the Diamond League season-opener in Doha with an impressive World-leading 88.67m on Friday.
Peters had won the Diamond League gold in Doha last year with a personal-best 93.07m but he has had a string of mediocre throws this season and Neeraj began as the favourite.
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The Indian, the Diamond League Trophy winner last year, took the honours with his season-opening throw of 88.67 and then followed it up with two 86-plus efforts (86.04 and 86.52) with his second and last efforts.
Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch was second with 88.63 while Peters was third with 85.88.
Eldhose flops
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games triple jump champion Eldhose Paul had a disappointing Diamond League debut, finishing 10th with a wind-assisted 15.84m.
Eldhose, who has a season-best of 16.61m, which came Indian Jumps Open in Ballari in March, and a personal best of 16.99m, was probably nervous with some of the world’s best around him. His opening attempt was his day’s best and his next two read 13.65 and 14.70, with all his jumps coming under a +2.2 wind.
Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo, the Olympic and World champion, won gold with 17.91m while Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango, the World leader this season, took silver with 17.81.