Neeraj Chopra finishes 2nd in Poland event behind Weber
Chorzow (Poland), May 23 (PTI): Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was not at his best but managed a second-place finish behind Julian Weber of Germany at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet here on Friday.
The 27-year-old Chopra was at third place till the penultimate round but sent his spear to a distance of 84.14m in his sixth and final attempt to move to second. He had 81.28m and 81.80m in his second and fifth throws respectively. The other three were foul attempts.
The competition was held under overcast conditions after rain at the Silesian Stadium earlier in the day..
German Julian Weber, who beat Chopra for the top spot in the Doha Diamond League on May 16 in a 90m duel, again emerged victorious with his second round throw of 86.12m.
Two-time world champions Anderson Peters of Grenada was third with a best throw of 83.24m. He was third in Doha also.
This was the first time Chopra had recorded a best throw of less than 85m in an event after the 82.27m while winning gold at the 2024 Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar.
He had finally breached the 90m with a throw of 90.23m in Doha though Weber had won the top spot with his last attempt of 91.06m.
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Brazil's Ancelotti raises doubts about whether Neymar will reach the 2026 World Cup
Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.
“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.
Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.
“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”
The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.
On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.
Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.
“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.
Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.
“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”
Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.
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