Neeraj Chopra qualifies for maiden World Championships final with 88.39m throw

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra qualified for his maiden World Championships final with a stunning first attempt throw of 88.39m.

The 24-year-old Indian, hot favourite for a medal, opened the men's javelin throw Group A qualification round and sent his spear to 88.39m for his third career-best throw, in Eugene, Oregon on Thursday.

The medal round will be held on Sunday (7:05am IST).

Those who clear 83.50m or 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualify for the final.

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and another Indian, Rohit Yadav will compete in Group B.

Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, had competed in the 2017 London World Championships with the hope of at least making it to the finals but managed only 82.26m to fall short of the automatic qualification mark of 83m.

He had also missed the 2019 World Championships in Doha as he was recovering from an elbow surgery.