Neeraj Chopra claims gold at Paavo Nurmi Games
Turku (Finland), Jun 18: India's Olympic and world champion javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra snared his maiden gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games here on Tuesday, returning to action in style after being laid low for a month due to a niggle.
Chopra, who claimed the silver here in 2022, produced the winning effort of 85.97m in his third attempt to lead the field for a major part of the competition, which also featured 19-year-old German prodigy Max Dehning who is the youngest member of the 90m club.
Home favourite Toni Keranen claimed the silver medal with a best throw of 84.19m, while his compatriot and last edition's gold-medallist Oliver Helander took the third spot with 83.96m.
The 26-year-old Chopra came into this event following a second-place finish in the Doha Diamond League and a gold in the Federation Cup in Bubaneswar last month.
After these two events, Chopra took a break after feeling "something" in his adductor (a group of muscles located on inner thighs).
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Rain washes out Super Eights match between New Zealand and Pakistan
Pallekele (Sri Lanka) (PTI): New Zealand and Pakistan shared a point after incessant rain forced the abandonment of the opening T20 World Cup Group 2 Super Eights match here on Saturday.
Amid a slight drizzle, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first.
But the steady droplets soon transformed into relentless pouring, forcing the officials to call off the match without a ball being bowled.
Before the skies opened up, Pakistan made one change to their eleven, bringing in Fakhar Zaman in place of Khawaja Nafay.
New Zealand made three changes with skipper Mitchell Santner back after missing the last match against Canada due to a stomach issue and Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi also found a place in the XI.
But all those calculations and combinations will have to wait for another day, as Pakistan will now face England here on February 24.
New Zealand will make a light travel to Colombo to face home side Sri Lanka on February 25.
The washout has also placed both the Kiwis and Pakistan in a relatively tighter place ahead of their remaining two Super Eights matches.
A similar result in any of the following matches, a possibility considering Sri Lanka’s weather pattern, or a defeat can put their semifinal ambitions in serious jeopardy.
