Javelin thrower Neeraj qualifies for finals

Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday qualified for the finals of his event at the Commonwealth Games after achieving the qualifying mark in just his first throw to finish second in his group.

Joining Chopra in the men's javelin throw finals was Vipin Kasana.

Chopra threw the javelin to 80.42M to achieve the mark in his first attempt. The effort left him fourth overall in a field where seven of the 12 qualifiers achieved the mark set for the finals.

"I was happy with my (only) throw of 80.42 (metres) when the automatic qualifying was set at 78mm," the 20-year-old said.

"I have spent the past 25 days, training with my coach Uwe Hohn (Germany). This year he has been coaching in India and I will be training in Germany in three months," he added.

It is to be noted that Australian Kathryn Mitchell also trains with Hohn. She won a silver in the event on April 11.

"She had a very good performance with a Games record (in the women's javelin throw). Australia must be very happy," Chopra said of her.

Like his junior team-mate, Kasana also needed just one throw (78.88) to make the finals.

In men's 1500M, Jinson Johnson qualified for the finals after finishing second in his heat and eighth overall with a timing of three minute 47.04 seconds.

The men's 4x400M relay team of Suresh Jeevan, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Anas and Rajiv Arokia also qualified for the finals to be held on Saturday after finishing second with a time of 3:04.05 in the heat.

Meanwhile, Purnima Hembram finished seventh in the women's heptathlon, scoring a personal best total of 5834 points from the seven events.