Doha, June 20: Forced to delay the start of his season due to an injury, Indian javelin throw ace Neeraj Chopra finished a creditable fourth in the Doha Diamond League event here.
The 28-year-old Chopra produced a best of 85.69m in his third attempt, which placed him fourth in the end in his season-opening event on Friday night.
He breached the 82.61m qualifying distance set by the Athletics Federation of India for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. He was earlier named in the 32-member Indian team for the Glasgow CWG (July 23 to August 2).
Chopra has been hampered by a back injury which he sustained before the World Championships in Tokyo in September 2025. He was competing here for the first time after finishing eighth in the World Championships. He has been training in Switzerland since May 25 after a rehabilitation stint in Turkey.
This was the first time Chopra has not finished in top-two in a Diamond League event in the last four years. He has been in top two in all the DL meetings he had participated since finishing second in Stockholm in June 2022.
Neeraj named ‘Best Male Athlete’ by AFI
Chopra was on Saturday honoured with the ‘Best Male Athlete of the Year 2025’ award at the inaugural Indian Athletics Awards ceremony in New Delhi.
The Best Female Athlete of the Year award went to Parul Chaudhary, the national record holder in the 3000m steeplechase.
Earlier, legendary sprinter P T Usha was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony.
The Indian Athletics Awards, launched by the AFI, aim to recognise the contributions of athletes, coaches, technical officials, mentors, state associations and other stakeholders.
The inaugural edition featured 10 categories, including Best Male and Female Athlete, Best Coach, Best Technical Official, Best State Association and Lifetime Achievement Award. (PTI)
