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New Delhi: India suffered another blow to their medal hopes at the World Athletics Championships after the star athlete Annu Rani failed to qualify for the final of the women's javelin event at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. Rani finished 15th after failing to cross the automatic qualification mark of 62.50m. It was a disappointing end to Rani's campaign as she failed to finish in the top 12 to qualify for the final.
Her best attempt in the qualifying was 55.10 metres, which she reached on her third throw. The dismal performance was way below her personal best of 63.82 metres, which she achieved in May 2022, at the Indian Open Javelin Throws Competition in Jamshedpur, India.
She came into the Tokyo Worlds on the back of a gold medal at the International Wiesław Maniak Memorial in Poland with a season-best throw of 62.59m. Her performance in Poland indicated a strong comeback after struggling earlier in the year, and made her a strong contender in Japan's capital.
However, she produced a below-par performance, beginning with a throw of 54.54 metres, which placed her 10th. She improved on her second throw with an attempt of 55.18 metres, but not enough to attain direct qualification. Her final attempt of 55.10 metres capped off a dismal evening for the Indian.
Annu Rani's failure to advance comes a day after Neeraj Chopra produced an underwhelming display, which saw him finish eighth with a best throw of 84.03m. The 2023 world champion failed to defend his title after being eliminated in the first round.
India's other contender, Sachin Yadav, though, stunned the fans with an incredible performance. The little-known Uttar Pradesh athlete surprised one and all with a fourth-placed finish courtesy of a personal best throw of 86.27.
Meanwhile, it was heartbreak for Gulveer Singh, who failed to qualify for the final of the men's 5000 metres after a spirited run. The top eight qualified, and Gulveer missed out on qualifcation by a whisker, finishing at ninth with a timing of 13:42:34.
