However, Germany’s Julian Weber turned the table and ranked first with his sixth and final shot, with a size of 91.06m. Chopra leads ahead of Weber’s final attempt.
Chopra asserted that the monkey was off his back and his best was not yet here, and fans could expect more 900m throws this year, an elusive mark for him over the past five years.
Now, a confident and unharmed Chopra focuses on some aspects of fine-tuning under Zelezny’s guidance.
Last November, Zelezny was ruled as Chopra’s coach. But Chopra said they have been working together since February.
“I’m very happy with the 90m mark, but it’s actually a bit of a bittersweet experience. But that’s OK, my coach and I are still working on some aspects of my throwing. We didn’t start working together until February this year. I’m still learning stuff,” Chopra said after the event. “He doesn’t usually go to the Diamond League, but he came with me because he told me that today is a day to reach 90m. So, I didn’t do my best. This year, I feel much better and we’re going to work in some ways, so I believe I can throw over 90 million in the upcoming World Championships this year.”
The World Championship will be held in Tokyo from September 13 to 21.
When asked about his next goal, Chopra said: “My next goal is still 90m. I believe I’m ready to throw further. It’s just the beginning of a long season.
“I’m glad that Jan Zelezny is my coach and we work very hard in South Africa. We’re still working on some aspects.”
Chopra said the conditions here also helped him find the big free throw, and Zelezny also told him that he could cross the 90m tolerance.
“When I warm up throw my coach said, today is the day when I can throw 90m. After throwing 90m, he also told me that I can throw 2-3m more.
“The wind will definitely help, the weather is a little warm, it helps. It’s the first game of the year, so after a long time everyone shows up with a fresh mindset and craving the throwing part (SIC) inside.
He said: “I also told Julian (Weber) that we can throw 900m. I’m happy for him, too. We’ve been working on 900m, so we’re happy. It’s like a good push between us, and in our next game we’re going to push each other again, plus get further and further away,” he said.
Chopra believes he had to finish second twice when he broke national records earlier.
“This happened earlier, too. I finished second in Stockholm DL when I threw NR in Turku as over 89m.
Webber said he didn’t do anything extra, but felt that he could violate the 90m score here.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I had a great massage thanks to my physical therapist. It was fun today. Neeraj threw his first 90m and I surpassed the mark in the last ball, which was perfect.
“I’m so happy for him. We’ve been throwing 90m for a long time and we both achieved it. So, it’s special for us.”
It was also Weber’s first 90m-plus effort, who became the 26th javelin that violated the coveted mark. His efforts have been the world leader this season so far.
Grenada’s two-time world champion and Paris Olympic bronze medalist Anderson Peters ranked third with an opening shot of 84.65 million.
