Neeraj Chopra

His fifth attempt of 87.66m extended his lead over others, with Julian Weber of Germany managing only 87.03m in the last attempt, Mid-Day reported.With not an ideal beginning to his campaign in Lausanne, Chopra began his first attempt with a foul throw.

Despite currently nursing an ankle injury and competing at the event on Tuesday wearing different shoes on both feet, Vikrant Malik, who had clinched gold in the last edition of KIUG in Bangalore, came up with a best throw of 80.00 metres at the Guru Govind Singh college grounds, here.

Chopra was leading the ranking with 1455 points, 22 ahead of Grena'a's Anderson Peters. Chopra had been at the No.2 position since August 30, 2022, but overtook Peters, the reigning world champion, this week. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch is placed third with 1410 points with Julian Webber of Germany in fourth with 1385 points and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem at fifth on 1306 points.

The Indian javelin thrower registered victory over a field that included Olympic champion Anderson Peters and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch.Chopra's season-opening throw of 88.67m -- the world leading attempt -- was never bettered by any other javelin thrower on the night. Vadlejch finished second with a best attempt of 88.63m.

Chopra will be among a host of champions to feature in one of the most prestigious athletics events of the season. The Doha meet will also see Commonwealth Games triple jump champion Eldhose Paul compete in a field including reigning Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo from Portugal and reigning Diamond League winner Andy.

Neeraj is getting set to compete in the event after winning the 2022 Diamond League final that was held in Zurich. Before traveling to Doha to compete in the Diamond League, which will be the first competitive tournament of 2023, Chopra talked about how he is preparing to compete against the best in Doha.

Due to injury, Chopra missed the 2022 Doha meet, where Grenada's two-time world champion, Peters, recorded the fifth-longest throw in history with his 93.07m attempt. The current Indian national record holder, who improved his lifetime best by almost two metres with a throw of 89.94m for second at last year's BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm

Neeraj, who under Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) funding had trained at Gloria Sports Arena last year as well, will head to Turkey on April 1 and will remain there till May 31. The TOPS funding will cover Neeraj, his coach Klaus Bartonietz and his Physiotherapist's Airfare, Boarding & Lodging, Medical Insurance, and Local Transportation costs among others, a media release said on Monday.

After his gold at Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj was expected to bring more laurels for the country, and he didn't disappoint with his performances in 2022. However, a groin injury forced him to miss the CWG 2022, but he marked his return by becoming the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet in Lausanne and eventually became the first Indian to win a Diamond League trophy.

Chopra landed in England a few days ago and will be camped at Loughborough University, which is known for its state-of-the-art sports gym and training facilities, for 63 days. He is accompanied by his coach and biomechanics expert Dr. Klaus Bartonietz and physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha. Earlier this week, the 24-year-old had an interaction with the students of Loughborough University.