Fresh from his World Championship gold medal, India’s Neeraj Chopra finished second in the men’s javelin throw event at the Zurich Diamond League meet on Thursday night behind Jakub Vadlejch.

After a slow start — where he threw 80.79m with his first attempt and then could not register a mark in his next two attempts — Chopra threw 85.82m in his 4th attempt. He produced his best throw of the night with his final attempt, a 85.71m heave that secured him second spot. The Indian’s best effort was just 15 centimetres short of Vadlejch’s best throw on the night.

Meanwhile, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth in his event with a best jump of 7.99m.

Chopra was competing in Zurich to bag points to ensure he qualifies for the Diamond League final in Eugene in mid-September. Chopra is the defending Diamond League champion and is third on the points table (23 points) after wins in Doha and Lausanne and the second spot at Zurich. He missed out on points as he didn’t participate in the Monaco Diamond League in July because he was focussing on recovery from an adductor muscle strain ahead of the World Championships.

(With inputs from agencies)