Doha: Top Indian woman javelin thrower Annu Rani qualified for the final round of the World Athletics Championships by smashing her own national record here Monday.
The 27-year-old Annu Rani sent the iron spear to a distance of 62.43m in her second round throw, bettering her earlier national record of 62.34m, which she achieved in March, to book a place for Tuesday’s finals.
In the process, she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the women’s javelin throw in the World Championships. She finished third in Group A and qualified for the finals as the fifth best performer in the qualifiers.
Only two javelin throwers, Asian champion Lyu Huihui (67.27m) of China and Christin Hussong (65.29m) of Germany, could cross the automatic qualification mark of 63.50m while another 10, including Annu, made up the 12, who will compete in the finals.
Annu Rani opened with a 57.05m before coming up with her career-best throw in the second round. She had a 60.50m in her third and final throw.
World leader and Asian Games champion Liu Shiying (63.48m) of China and Ratej Martina (62.87m) of Slovenia finished ahead of Annu in Group A, while reigning Olympic champion Sara Kolak of Croatia was sixth with a best throw of 60.99m.
Two other Indians competed Monday in other disciplines. However, Archana Susheendran and Anjali Devi failed to go past the first round in the women’s 200m and 400m, respectively.
The 25-year-old Archana, who got a last minute invite from the world governing body IAAF to take part in the showpiece, finished last in Heat No.2 and 40th overall out of the 43 participants who completed their races, with a time of 23.65 seconds. She has a personal best of 23.18.
The 21-year-old Anajli, meanwhile, finished sixth in Heat No.6 and 36th overall out of 46 athletes, with a time of 52.33 seconds.
PTI