Chopra finishes second in DL final, misses crown by 1cm
Brussels (PTI): Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra came agonisingly close to winning the Diamond League crown before missing it by just one centimetre to finish as runner-up for the second consecutive year with a throw of 87.86m in the season finale here.
The 26-year-old Chopra, who had won the DL trophy in 2022 before finishing second last year, achieved his best throw of the day in his third attempt but that was 1cm short of eventual winner Anderson Peters' 87.87m effort on Saturday.
Grenada's Peters, a two-time world champion, produced his best throw of the day in his opening attempt. Julian Weber of Germany was third with 85.97m.
Chopra, who added a silver to his Olympic medal tally in Paris following a historic gold at the Tokyo Games, thus ended his season on a high.
The Indian javelin throw superstar, who has a personal best of 89.94m and season's best of 89.49m, had a series of 86.82m, 83.49m, 87.86m, 82.04m, 83.30m and 86.46m.
The top three led the seven-man field in the same order for the whole competition.
Peters will collect a Diamond League trophy and USD 30,000 for emerging as the DL champion this season.
Chopra will pocket USD 12,000 for his second-place finish in the grand finale which marked the end of the prestigious Diamond League series after 14 legs, as well as the end of international athletics season.
The Haryana athlete remained consistent throughout the season, though he won just one international event this season, the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 18.
He had made the Diamond League final cut after finishing fourth in the overall standings with 14 points from his two second-place finishes in DL one-day meets in Doha and Lausanne on May 10 and August 22.
Chopra has been struggling with his fitness this season and is expected to meet a doctor to rectify a groin injury that has affected him all season and came in the way of his quest to hit the 90m mark.
On Friday, national record-holding 3000m steeplechaser Sable had finished ninth in a 10-man field in his maiden DL final with a mediocre time of 8 minute and 17.09 seconds to end a largely disappointing season. He had finished 11th in the Olympic Games.
It was for the first time that a DL finale featured two Indians.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
