India’s second-best javelin thrower Rohit Yadav made it a double delight by making it to the final of the World Athletics Championships on Thursday. He finished sixth in the Group B qualification round, and 11th overall, with his first throw of 80.42m.

His second throw was a foul and managed a modest 77.32m in his last attempt. The 21-year-old Indian had recorded a season’s and personal best of 82.54m while winning a silver at the National Inter-State Championships last month.

“It’s massive. It’s historic. First time two India javelin throwers make it to the final of the World Athletics Championships. Neeraj and Rohit Yadav,” tweeted the Athletics Federation of India.

Yadav, who calls Neeraj a friend, has thrown over 80meight times before making his World Championships debut on Thursday. He ranks 28th in the world and it was only due to his ranking that he qualified for the Worlds. Hailing from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav is among the brightest talent in the sport in the country. He had gone over the 80m mark on several occasions in the last three months.

Last month, Yadav clinched a silver medal with a personal best of 82.54m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship in Chennai. He also threw 82.45m, 82.07m and 80.49m in the event.

In April, he threw a remarkable 81.83 to win the gold medal in the Federation Cup in Thenhipalam, Kerala.

Also, at the Indian Grand Prix, he threw 80.88m to clinch a silver in Bhubaneswar in May.

Yadav has already qualified for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham from next week.

His exploits in the world championships will surely given him a lot of confidence going into the CWG. Germany’s Julian Weber breached the automatic qualification mark with his opening throw of 87.28m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem also made the grade after finishing fourth in Group B, and ninth overall, with a best throw of 81.71m but Trinidad and Tobago’s 2012 Olympic games gold winner KeshornWalcott faltered.

Written with inputs from PTI