With season's best throw, Neeraj Chopra finishes second in Lausanne Diamond League

Neeraj Chopra finished second in the Lausanne Diamond League after managing a season’s best throw late on Thursday night.

Chopra began the night slowly and looked to be struggling to find his rhythm. He found himself in the fourth spot till the fourth round and just when his podium chances looked to be slipping away, he produced two clutch throws to end the night on a high.

He began with throws of starting with throws of 82.10 metres, 83.21 metres and 83.13 metres. He then registered 85.58 metres in his fifth attempt and then bettered that with a season’s best throw of 89.49 metres in the final attempt. In fact, it was better than his silver medal-winning effort of 89.49 metres at the recently concluded Paris Olympics.

The 26-year-old’s 89.49 metres throw is also second best mark ever, though he again fell short of the elusive 90m mark once again.

After the event, Chopra stated that he was not feeling great at the start but managed to find his groove by the end.

“The feeling wasn't great at first, but I am 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,” he said, as per PTI.

The Haryana native also stressed the importance of being mentally strong in such instances.

“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,” he added.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters took top honours with a 90.61m throw in his final attempt, which is also his season’s best and a meet record. Germany’s Julian Weber finished third with a 87.08m effort.

Chopra earned seven points at the Lausanne Diamond League, which sees him tied with Weber for third place (14 points ) in the Diamond League rankings. Peters leads the standings with 21 points while Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch is currently in second place with 16 points.