Can Chopra recreate 2022 magic to end DL on a high?

Zurich: Neeraj Chopra seems primed to reclaim the Diamond League trophy with a repeat of the 90-metre show that has been the highlight of his season so far when the prestigious 14-leg series draws to a close here on Thursday.

There were four Diamond League meetings which featured men’s javelin throw, and Chopra competed in only two, qualifying for the final at fourth place with 15 points.

He skipped the Silesia and Brussels legs on August 16 and August 22 respectively. He last won the DL trophy in 2022. The top six in the points table from the four meetings qualify for the Finals here.

Since there are 32 events, both male and female, the DL Final is spread over two days.

Six events -- men’s and women’s pole vault, men’s and women’s shot put, men’s long jump, and women’s high jump -- are being held on Wednesday, all street events in the Swiss city’s Sechselautenplatz.

The remaining 26 events will, however, be held inside the Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday. The winner of each event at Diamond League Final will be named this year’s champion and get a DL trophy as well as prize money ranging from $30,000 to $,000 and wild card entries to next month’s World Championships in Tokyo.

A thrilling contest is on the cards in men’s javelin with Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and Paris Games silver winner Chopra facing defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada as well as Germany’s Julian Weber in the seven-man final.

‘90m throw not perfect’

The 27-year-old Chopra said he is still in the learning curve as far as his technique is concerned, though he is improving by picking the brain of his coach, the

legendary Jan Zelezny.

“I feel I am really fast in run-up, but I don’t think I am using the speed (to send javelin farther) right now. In Doha, the 90m throw was really good, but technically I don’t want to say that was perfect,” Chopra said while addressing the media on the eve of the event. agencies