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Javelin star Neeraj Chopra battled tough conditions and an uncharacteristically challenging qualification round to secure his place in the men's javelin final at the Commonwealth Games 2026 on Thursday, while India also saw strong performances from Rohit Yadav, Yash Vir Singh, Tejaswin Shankar, Praveen Chitravel and Selva Prabhu on an eventful first half on Day 7 of athletics action.
Neeraj, who has dominated qualification rounds in recent years with his ability to clear the mark in a single attempt, had to rely on his second throw this time in unfavourable windy conditions in Glasgow. The Olympic champion opened with 76.28m before improving to 79.61m on his second attempt to finish fifth in the qualification standings, according to ESPN. The Indian opted against his final throw after confirming his place in the final. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage topped the qualification round with an effort of 82.84m, followed by Anderson Peters of Grenada with 81.29m. South Africa's Douw Smit (80.64m) and England's Ben East (80.38m) completed the top four. Rohit Yadav produced a consistent performance to finish ninth with 78.37m, while Yash Vir Singh saved his best for last, improving his final throw to 78.36m and securing 10th place. Defending champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan qualified seventh with 78.63m, according to ESPN. The top 12 athletes advanced to the final, with Neeraj, Rohit and Yash Vir keeping India's medal hopes alive in the event. Meanwhile, Tejaswin Shankar delivered one of India's standout performances in the men's decathlon. Competing despite concerns over a high jump injury suffered earlier in the Games, Tejaswin showed resilience and remained in contention among a strong field featuring Olympic champion Damian Warner and defending Commonwealth champion Lindon Victor. Tejaswin began his campaign with a 10.96s run in the 100m event, collecting 870 points. He then produced a superb performance in the long jump, registering a personal best of 7.82m to earn 1015 points and briefly lead the event. In the shot put, an event he considers one of his weaker disciplines, Tejaswin recorded a best effort of 13.09m. After three events, he remained fourth overall with 2558 points, behind Warner (2749), Victor (2685) and Sammy Ball (2605). India also enjoyed success in men's triple jump qualification as Praveen Chitravel and Selva Prabhu booked their spots in the final. Chitravel produced a 16.41m jump to finish second in qualification, while Selva recovered after two fouls to register a clean 16.26m effort and take third place. In cycling, 16-year-old para athlete Lisha Das made a memorable Commonwealth Games debut in the women's C4-C5 4000m individual pursuit qualification. Despite finishing fourth and missing out on a place in the final, Das impressed with a time of 6:58.000 in her first major international appearance. India's men's team sprint cycling campaign ended in the qualifying round, with Rojit Singh, David Beckham and Ronaldo Singh finishing seventh among seven teams with a time of 46.396s. In the men's 400m semi-finals, Vishal TK finished sixth in his heat with a time of 46.33s, bringing his campaign to an end. Weightlifter Martina Devi came close to adding another medal for India in the women's 86kg+ category. Making her Commonwealth Games debut, the 20-year-old fought back after missing her opening snatch attempt at 103kg to successfully lift 105kg in her final attempt. Martina then produced a personal best clean and jerk of 140kg to move into medal contention with a total of 245kg. However, she could not clear her remaining attempts of 144kg and 146kg, finishing outside the medal positions. England's Emily Campbell successfully defended her Commonwealth Games title with a dominant total of 278kg, while Malaysia's Siti Draman and Canada's Etta Love claimed silver and bronze respectively. Despite missing out on the podium, Martina's performance underlined her potential on the international stage, while India continued to make progress across athletics, cycling and weightlifting events in Glasgow. (ANI)
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