Neeraj finishes second in Lausanne Diamond League with season's best 89.49m
Lausanne (PTI): Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished second in the Lausanne Diamond League as he recovered in time to produce a season's best effort of 89.49m in his last attempt on Thursday.
The 26-year-old Chopra was at fourth spot till the fourth round before sending his spear to 85.58m in his fifth attempt. He saved the best for the last as his sixth and final attempt measured 89.49m, which was better than his performance in the Paris Olympics.
He was in danger of missing the sixth throw but his fifth round effort of 85.58m saved him. Only the top three after five rounds get their respective final attempts.
Two-time world champion and Paris Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada won the event with his second round monster throw of 90.61m while Julian Weber of Germany took the third spot with 87.08m.
"The feeling wasn't great at first, but I´m happy with my throw, especially the second (career) best throw on my last attempt. It was a tough start, but the comeback was really nice and I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed," Chopra said after the event.
"Even though my early throws were around 80-83m, I pushed hard in the last two attempts finishing strong. Competing at this high level, it's important to stay mentally tough and fight through."
Nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra claimed a silver in the Paris Olympics on August 8 with an 89.45m throw, having won a historic gold in the Tokyo edition of the Games three years ago.
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem had beaten Chopra for the gold in Paris with an Olympic record throw of 92.97m.
Peters, who had struggled to find his form last year, led the competition from beginning to end and he stamped his class with the 90m-plus throw in the last round. He has a personal best of 93.07m which he had produced in 2022.
With seven points from Thursday's second-place finish, Chopra will be on joint third spot with Weber on Diamond League standings with 15 points. Peters jumped to top spot with 21 points.
Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who finished seventh (82.03m) on Thursday, is in second spot with 16 points.
On Saturday, Chopra had confirmed his participation at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, leaving a decision on a possible surgery after the end of the season.
Chopra was the Diamond League champion in 2022 and finished second behind Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic in the winner-takes-all DL final in Eugene, USA, last year.
This season's DL finals will be held in Brussels on September 14. He needs to finish in the top-six of the Diamond League meetings series standings to qualify for the season finale.
There is another DL meeting -- in Zurich on September 5 -- which has a men's javelin throw event in its roster.
Chopra had won the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League in 2022 and 2023, but could not do so this time. In fact, Chopra is yet to win a DL meeting this year. He finished second behind Vadlejch in Doha on May 10.
Chopra has been managing his groin injury since winning the gold in the Budapest World Championships last year.
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Allu Arjun didn't leave theatre despite being told about woman's death: Hyderabad police
Hyderabad, Dec 22: Top Telugu actor Allu Arjun did not leave the theatre during the screening of 'Pushpa-2' on December 4 despite being told to do so in view of a stampede in which a woman died, police officials claimed on on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference on the annual round-up of 2024, city police commissioner C V Anand showed a video, made by police, on the situation that prevailed when the stampede occurred.
The video was made by collating footage, including from news channels and cell phone clips. It suggests the actor remained in the theatre till the midnight.
Anand did not make any comment on the video, but said the media can draw its own conclusions.
A police official talked about the sequence of events on the fateful night of December 4.
He said that he and other police officials informed a manager of Allu Arjun about the death of the woman and told him that the situation was out of control. He indicated that they were not allowed to meet the actor.
Allu Arjun's staff members told them that they would convey the matter to the actor but did not do so, he said.
The official said he later managed to reach the actor, told him about the woman's death and asked him to leave the theatre so that the fans don't harm each other while trying to catch a glimpse of him.
The official also told the actor that security arrangements would be made for his exit.
However, the actor said he would go only after watching the film, the police official said.
Later, accompanied by a senior officer, the official went inside and brought the actor out, he said.
Amid allegations that bouncers hired by Allu Arjun pushed crowds as well as policemen when the stampede occurred at the cinema hall, the police commissioner warned that stringent action as per law would be taken if THE bouncers indeed misbehaved with the police on duty.
The VIPs would be made responsible for the behaviour of the bouncers hired by them, he said.
Asked if the police would appeal against the interim bail granted to Allu Arjun, the commissioner refused to give a direct response, just saying it is part of the investigation.
What course of action is taken would be known in the days to come, he said.
He also declined to comment when asked if the family of the deceased told him about Allu Arjun's team or film production team allegedly threatening them not to speak on the issue.
Meanwhile, state Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy found fault with Allu Arjun responding on Saturday to the debate in the Legislative Assembly.
The minister, who observed that the actor should have respect for the government and the chief minister, demanded an apology from Allu Arjun to the government and the CM.
"This government is never vindictive. As Cinematography Minister, we allowed benefit shows and hiking ticket prices to promote the film industry," he said.
However, Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar found fault with CM Revanth Reddy for his comments on Allu Arjun in the Assembly on Saturday.
The comments of the CM sounded like character assassination of Allu Arjun and hurting the Telugu film industry, he alleged in a statement.
Later in the day, Sanjay Kumar visited a boy who is undergoing treatment in a hospital after being injured in the stampede.
"Consoled his father over the heartbreaking loss of his wife, Revathi. I pray to god that Sritej recovers at the earliest. Assured support to the family in this difficult time," Kumar said on X.
Earlier in the day, state DGP Jitender told reporters in Karimnagar district that film personalities and all others should understand that safety and security of citizens is utmost important, and also conduct themselves accordingly.
