Competing in her second consecutive final in the showpiece, Rani achieved her best of the day on her second attempt.
India’s Annu Rani finished seventh in the women’s javelin throw final with a sub-par effort of 61.12m at the World Championships here.
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Competing in her second straight final in the showpiece, Rani had her best of the day on her second attempt but failed to clear the 60m mark on the other five throws on Friday.
His streak was 56.18m, 61.12m, 59.27m, 58.14m, 59.98m and 58.70m. The 29-year-old has a season and personal best of 63.82m. A personal best effort would have given Rani a medal, but it wasn’t to be like she struggled in her campaign in the showpiece.
The national record holder had qualified for the final as eighth best in the qualifying round with a throw of 59.60m.
Australia’s Kelsey-Lee Barber, the defending champion, won the gold medal with the world’s best and best throw of 66.91m. American Kara Winger took silver with a final effort of 64.05m, while Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan won a surprise bronze medal with her best throw of 63.27m.
Olympic champion Shiying Liu of China finished fourth with a best performance at 63.25m.
This was Rani’s third appearance in the centerpiece. She had finished eighth in the final with a best throw at 61.12m in the last edition in 2019 in Doha. She was unable to qualify for the final in 2017 in London after finishing 10th in her qualifying group.
Annu had broken his own national record with a throw of 63.82m while winning gold at the Indian Open Javelin Throw Competition in May in Jamshedpur.
All eyes will now be on superstar javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as he seeks to add a World Championships medal to the Olympic gold he won in Tokyo last year.
If Chopra, 24, wins in the final on Sunday (7:05 a.m. IST), he will become just the third men’s javelin thrower to follow Olympic success with gold at the World Championships after Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen (2008-09) and the world record. holder Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic in 2000-01 and 1992-93.
Chopra will have company with Rohit Yadav, who advanced to his first final after finishing sixth in the Group B qualifying round and 11th overall, with a best throw of 80.42m.
Ahead of the Chopra event, triple jumper Eldhose Paul will also compete in his first final (6:30am IST) while the men’s 4x400m relay team will start the day for the Indians (6:10am IST) in the qualifying race.
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