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Asian Games 2018: Neeraj Chopra wins historic gold; Neena Varakil silver
Star Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won India’s eight gold at the 18th Asian Games with a gigantic 88.06-meter throw in Jakarta on Monday.
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The 20-year-old was confident right from the start and covered a distance of 83.46m in the opening throw itself to set the tone for a medal win. His second and sixth throw was ruled out as fouls, but that could not deter his performance as Neeraj crossed the 80m mark in all of his remaining four throws.
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He threw a record 88.06m in the third attempt, while also hitting 83.25m and 86.26m in his fourth and fifth attempt respectively to claim the gold.
It was India’s second medal in the Javelin throw even of the Asiad and first since 1982 when Gurtej Singh had won the bronze. Neeraj missed the Asian Games record by a mere 1.09m but surpassed his previous best record of 87.43m, which he had achieved at the Diamond League in Doha earlier this year in May.
China’s Liu Qizhen bagged the silver with a score of 82.22m, while Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan came third with an 80.75 throw.
It has been an impressive year for the athlete, who has so far won three gold medals in 2018. He had earlier won the yellow metal at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, while also bagging the top honours at the Sotteville Athletics Meet and the Savo Games.
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Another Indian in the fray compatriot Shivpal Singh, who had pulled out midway due to a shoulder injury finished eighth with a throw of 74.11.
Neena Varakil also won a silver in the women’s long jump event to take India’s medal count to 41 in the ongoing intercontinental event with eight gold, 13 silver, and 20 bronze medals.
Varakil achieved a score of 6.51m in the fourth event to bag the silver.
Vietnam’s Thi Thu Thao Bui clinched the gold with a season’s best jump of 6.55, while Xiaoling Xu of China bagged the bronze with an effort of 6.50.
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