Bengaluru: Neeraj Chopra needed just one throw to sail into the final. It was one of intent and throwing down the gauntlet.A season’s best of 89.34 in his first attempt in the qualification, saw the 26 year-old defending Olympic champion comfortably through to the August 8 final.

The other Indian in the fray Kishore Jena – whose best attempt was 80.73m – couldn’t make the final. The qualification standard was set at 84.00. The Asian Games silver medallist from Odisha has spoken of wanting to quit the sport after a string of poor performances in 2022 and finding motivation in Neeraj. Jena finished 9 th in his group.

The final looks stacked and set for fireworks with Neeraj’s Czech rival – Jakub Valdech, who has a personal best of 99.88, in the mix. Valdedch, much like Neeraj, pulled off a one-and-done throw of 85.63 to book his place in the final. Germany’s Julian Weber logged an 87.78m attempt.

It’s rare for an Indian to be a favourite for gold at a track and field event, but the reigning world champion from India just knowing when to switch gears and touch peak performance at the biggest events, is what makes him extraordinary.

Pakistan’s Nadeem Arshad, who was placed in Group B alongside Neeraj too managed an automatic qualification with a season’s best throw of 86.59m. As did Anderson Peters. The Grenada athlete registered his season’s best throw of 88.63m. The has to be among the most high-quality qualification rounds with five of the finalists posting their season’s best throws.

India is coming off a tough day at the Olympics with three major heartbreaks and a string of fourth places. Lakshya Sen missed out on a bronze medal, mixed skeet shooters team of Ananjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan lost a bronze medal playoff and wrestler Nisha Dahiya suffered an injury and lost her 68kg quarterfinal bout.