Gritty Neeraj finishes fourth in Diamond League finals

Zurich: Fresh from his Asian Games triumph, India's ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra put up a gritty show before finishing fourth in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League finals in Zurich.

At the Letzigrund Stadium, Neeraj, who won the Asian Games gold a national record throw of 88.06M, the sixth best in the world this season, initially led the competition before settling for fourth with 85.73M.

ASIAN GAMES SPECIAL PAGE

Neeraj had gone to compete in Zurich just hours after clinching the yellow metal in Jakarta and he gave it all in a quality field.

A third-round effort of 91.44M earned Andreas Hofman the gold. It was the German's first big international javelin prize as he claimed one of the 16 Diamond Trophies on offer in the first of the IAAF Diamond League finals in Zurich. The remaining 16 trophies will be decided in the second leg at Brussels.

Estonia's Magnus Kirt took second place with 87.57M, while Germany's Olympic champion Thomas Rohler ace, who was the favourite, found enough form after initial hiccups to reach 85.76M and clinch the last spot on the podium.

Zurich: Dominant Hofmann Wins Javelin #DiamondLeague #DLFinal #DLZurich @WeltklasseZH https://t.co/k1ZRY3RfyE pic.twitter.com/jDSTP2HAA1

— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) August 30, 2018

In the absence of world champion Johannes Vetter, Rohler, who beat his friend Hofmann to the European title in Berlin earlier this season, was the favourite. But on the night he, like the rest of the field, could not respond to Hofmann's mighty third-round effort.