World Athletics Championship:Annu Rani becomes first Indian Woman to qualify for Javelin throw final
Doha, Sep 30: Top Indian woman javelin thrower Annu Rani qualified for the final round of the World Athletics Championships by smashing her own national record here on Monday.
The 27-year-old Annu sent the iron spear to a distance of 62.43m in her second round throw, bettering her earlier national record of 62.34m, which she achieved in March, to book a place for Tuesday's finals.
In the process, she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the women's javelin throw in the World Championships.
Annu finished third in Group A and qualified for the finals as the fifth best performer of the qualification round.
Only two javelin throwers, Asian champion Lyu Huihui (67.27m) of China and Christin Hussong (65.29m) of Germany, could cross the automatic qualification mark of 63.50m while another 10, including Annu, made up the 12, who will compete in the finals.
Annu opened with a 57.05m before coming up with her career-best throw in the second round. She had a 60.50m in her third and final throw.
World leader and Asian Games champion Liu Shiying (63.48m) of China and Ratej Martina (62.87m) of Slovenia finished ahead of Annu in Group A, while reigning Olympic champion Sara Kolak of Croatia was sixth with a best throw of 60.99m.
The other two Indians who competed on Monday, Archana Susheendran and Anjali Devi, failed to go past the first round in the women's 200m and 400m, respectively.
The 25-year-old Archana, who got a last minute invite from the world governing body IAAF to take part in the showpiece, finished last in heat number 2 and 40th overall out of the 43 participants who completed their races, with a time of 23.65 seconds. She has a personal best of 23.18.
Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain, who had won a silver in the 100m dash on Sunday, topped the overall timings chart of 200m first round heats with 22.32 seconds.
The 21-year-old Anajli, meanwhile, finished sixth in heat number 6 and 36th overall out of 46 athletes, with a time of 52.33 seconds.
Anjali, who underwent a confirmatory trial before being cleared for this championships, has a personal best of 51.53, which she achieving while winning gold during the Inter-State Championships in August in Lucknow.
The top three finishers in each of the six heats and the next six fastest qualify for the semifinals. The slowest time that made the cut for the semifinals was 52.23.
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'India stands in solidarity': PM speaks to UAE president, condemns attacks on Gulf nation
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night spoke to the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and strongly condemned the attacks on the Gulf nation, saying India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
Mod also thanked the UAE president for taking care of the Indian community living in the Gulf nation, and said New Delhi supports de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability.
"Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
"Thanked him for taking care of the Indian community living in the UAE. We support de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability," Modi wrote on X.
Iranian strikes across the UAE in the past two days have resulted in three fatalities and injuries to 58 people, including an Indian national, officials confirmed on Sunday.
The Indian Embassy in the UAE, in a social media post, said it was aware of the injury to the Indian national and was in touch with the hospital authorities.
The UAE's defence ministry said it intercepted 165 ballistic missiles, of which 152 were destroyed, and 13 drowned in the sea.
It also destroyed two cruise missiles and 541 Iranian drones, 506 of which were shot down, the ministry said.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a coordinated US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran early Saturday, with the Iranian state media confirming the death on Sunday.
Iran began firing missiles at Israel and the Arab countries in the region in retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader.
