Neeraj Chopra begins Diamond League title defence with win in Doha
Doha, May 5: Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra began his Diamond League title defence with a comfortable win in the season-opening leg here on Friday, with a world leading and fourth career-best effort.
The 25-year-old Chopra, who had pocketed the 2022 Diamond League Final trophy in Switzerland in September last, beat a star-studded field with a best throw of 88.67m to begin his season in style.
Chopra hit his straps in his first attempt itself with a world-leading throw of 88.67m, which was his fourth career-best effort to position himself on the top of the pile. He maintained the lead till the end to win the event in his second appearance at the Qatar Sports Club.
He had finished fourth in his first appearance here in 2018.
Silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic went agonisingly close to Chopra's best mark with a second round throw of 88.63m, four centimeter short of the Indian's effort.
Vadlejch had also won silver in the Tokyo Olympics. He had also won a silver in the Doha Diamond League last year with a 90.88m throw.
Reigning world champion Anderson Peters, who had won the event here last year with a monster throw of 93.07m, finished third with a modest best throw of 85.88m.
Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, could not sustain the tempo of his first attempt as he could only send the spear to 86.04m and then to 85.47m before fouling his throw in the fourth. He managed 84.37m and 85.62m in his fifth and sixth attempts.
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Shivamogga tense after boy murdered outside school
Shivamogga (PTI): A 16-year-old boy was murdered outside a government school in Sulaebailu here, sparking tension in the area, police said on Tuesday.
Following the incident, a large police force was deployed in the city.
The incident occurred after Sanketh (16), an SSLC student of the Government High School at Uragadooru, attended a special class ahead of examinations.
Superintendent of Police Nikhil B told reporters that Sanketh intervened in an argument involving a group of boys outside his school.
“Some friends who were known to him — they had earlier studied in the same school — were involved. They are also minors. They hit him with their hands. Immediately after being struck, he collapsed. After he fell, by the time he was taken to the hospital, we came to know that he had died,”
"... he was struck near the chest. Due to that blow, he collapsed on the spot,” the SP said.
Two minors have been taken into custody in this connection.
“We are also gathering information about others involved in the incident. Whoever is found to be involved, we will initiate legal action against them as well,” the official added.
On the possible motive, the SP said the exact cause is yet to be ascertained.
“We do not have complete information about that. Once we conduct a detailed inquiry, we will know. Some people are saying it may have been over a trivial matter. However, we cannot confirm that at this stage,” he said.
The incident took on a communal undertone, prompting authorities to deploy heavy police reinforcements across the city to maintain order and prevent escalation.
BJP MLA from Shivamogga, S N Channabasappa, also visited the hospital.
