No 90m this time but Chopra beats Weber to win first Diamond League title in two years
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Paris (PTI): Olympic medal-winning Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra clinched his first Diamond League title in two years, upstaging German rival Julian Weber without having to hit the 90m mark in a strong field here.
The 27-year-old Chopra won the title late on Friday night with his first round throw of 88.16m in a star-studded field, which featured five from the coveted 90m club.
His second throw measured 85.10m and he then fouled his next three attempts before recording 82.89m in his sixth and final effort.
Weber was second with his opening throw of 87.88m, while Luiz Mauricio Da Silva of Brazil was third with his third round attempt of 86.62m.
"I am happy with my throw....My run-up was really fast today. I can't control my speed, but I'm happy with the result and with the first position," the Haryana-lad, who has a gold and silver in back-to-back Olympics, told the broadcaster.
Chopra had won his last DL title in Lausanne in June 2023 with a throw of 87.66m. After that, he finished second in six DL meetings.
This was his first win in the Paris leg of the prestigious series. He last competed in the Paris DL in 2017 as a junior world champion and finished fifth with a throw of 84.67m.
"I will compete in Ostrava (Golden Spike athletic meet) after four days on the 24th of June. So I need some recovery," he said of his upcoming schedule which also includes the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5 -- a World Athletics category A event which he is hosting.
Chopra had breached the 90m mark in the Doha leg of the Diamond League on May 16 with a throw of 90.23m for a second place finish. Weber had won the title in Doha with his last round throw of 91.06m.
" I'm hoping for some 90 metre throws because I broke that barrier in Doha. So now I believe I can do it some more...But let's see, it depends on weather and good conditions, how the body feels, but maybe I will throw far in this season," he said.
The 31-year-old Weber had also beaten Chopra at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet on May 23 in Poland where both performed below their best under chilly and overcast conditions.
Weber had produced 86.12m while Chopra could only come up 84.14m to finish second.
The Indian began the 2025 season with a title in an invitational meet at Potchefstroom, South Africa, which was a minor (category F) event with a throw of 84.52m.
In Paris, the three others, apart from Chopra and Weber, who had previously hit the 90m mark were Kenya's 2015 world champion Julius Yego, Trinidad and Tobago's 2012 Olympics gold-winner Keshorn Walcott and Grenada's Anderson Peters.
While Walcott (81.66m) finished fourth, Peters (80.29m) and Yego (80.26m) took the fifth and sixth spot respectively on Friday.
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One dead, 5 injured in explosion at firecracker factory in Maharashtra's Palghar
Palghar (PTI): A worker was killed and five others were seriously injured after an explosion ripped through a firecracker factory in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Tuesday, police said.
Two persons were arrested in connection with the incident, said an official.
Earlier, the administration had put the death toll at two, but a corrected statement in the evening said a male worker died while a woman with 80 per cent burns was undergoing treatment.
The tragedy follows the blast at a firecracker factory in Tamil Nadu which claimed 23 lives and left many injured on Sunday.
The explosion occurred around 12 pm on Tuesday at a firecracker manufacturing unit operating out of a tin shed inside an old farmhouse at Konsai village of Wada taluka, said Vivekanand Kadam, chief of the civic disaster management cell.
As many as 35 workers, mostly women, were engaged in manufacturing 'twine bombs' (thread-bound crackers) at the time, he said.
"The explosion took place when a chemical mixing process was underway, killing one worker on the spot, and leaving a woman -- Monica Sachin Padwale (30) -- with 80 per cent burn injuries," an official from Wada police station said. The woman was later shifted to a Mumbai hospital.
The deceased worker was identified as Bhavesh Dileep Vavare (35).
Monica Mahendra Jadhav (30), Jagruti Jagdish Gavate (27), Pratibha Pratap Pawar (30) and Monica Mohan Vardi (25) also sustained serious injuries and were undergoing treatment at Wada Rural Hospital.
"Fire services and police reached the spot immediately to oversee rescue operations. The blaze following the explosion was quickly brought under control by the fire brigade," the official said.
As per preliminary investigations, raw materials were brought from outside to the unit which had begun operations on April 10, and daily-wage workers from nearby villages including Jamghar, Konsai, Palsai and Alman were employed.
A probe is underway to ascertain if the manufacturing unit possessed necessary licenses and followed safety protocols, the police official said.
"We are probing the exact cause of the fire and possible negligence regarding safety measures at the site," the official said, adding that a search was underway for the owners of the manufacturing unit.
The factory shed collapsed following the blast, sending splinters flying. Body parts of the deceased were found some distance away.
District Superintendent of Police Yatish Deshmukh told PTI that the process of registering an offence against three persons including the shed owner was underway.
The shed owner and another accused were arrested and the police were on the look-out of the third accused.
