Asian Games: Neeraj Chopra defends gold with 88.88m throw, Kishore Jena grabs silver

Neeraj Chopra claimed gold with a throw of 88.88m in the 2023 Asian Games on Wednesday evening in Hangzhou, China. 

India also bagged the silver medal as Kishore Kumar Jena stood second after he finished with a throw of 87.54m. 

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Due to a technical snag, Neeraj's first throw was invalid and he had to retake after a brief pause. The athlete was spotted having a chat with the officials after his attempt was cancelled despite no fault of his. His first throw, which was ruled out, had crossed the 85m mark and was just short of the 90m. 

However, during the retake, he could not replicate his earlier performance and had to settle for just 82.38m. 

In his next attempt, he bettered his first score by a couple of metres and recorded a distance of 84.49m.

His third throw was a foul but in the third attempt, he came back strongly and scored 88.88m which was enough to seal the top spot for him. 

MORE: Updated list of all Indian medal winners at 2023 Asian Games

How did Kishore Jena perform in the Asian Games 2023?

Jena had a slow start and his first two attempts were 81.26m and 79.76m respectively.

However, on the third attempt, he sprung to life and threw 86.77m to briefly lead the table. He further bettered himself in his fourth throw and scored 87.54m, his personal best, which propelled him to the second position. 

His two last two attempts were not up to the mark but he wasn't bothered as he had done enough for the evening.

Jena's effort also helped him breach the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification mark, set at 85.50m.