Neeraj Chopra wins at Kuortane Games

NEW DELHI: Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra clinched his first top podium finish of the season by winning the javelin throw event at the Kuortane Games in Finland, beating reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada for the second time in four days, on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Chopra’s opening throw of 86.69m turned out to be the winning distance. Trinidad and Tobago’s 2012 Olympics champion Keshorn Walcott was second with a first-round throw of 86.64m.

Peters was third with a best throw of 84.75m, which also came in the opening round. Chopra’s second and third attempts were fouls and he did only three throws.

That meant Chopra had single legal throw and he won the competition with it. His throw was not as big as the 89.30m effort while finishing second in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, in a star-studded field but the win will surely boost his confidence ahead of the Stockholm Diamond League on June 30. Chopra’s first competitive event after just over 10 months was nothing short of extraordinary as he nearly touched the coveted 90m mark, considered the gold standard in the world of javelin throw.