Javelin thrower Annu finishes 7th in Diamond League

Annu Rani continued her disappointing form this season as she finished seventh with an effort of 57.74m in the women's javelin throw event in the Diamond League Meeting in Brussels on Friday.

The 31-year-old national record holder had her best throw of the day in her third attempt to end at seventh in the eight-women field.

She has not been able to touch the 60m mark this season, with the 59.24m she had thrown during the Federation Cup in May being her best.

Her national record stands at 63.82m, which she had created last year.     

World champion Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan finished first with 67.38m while Victoria Hudson (64.65m) of Austria and Lina Muze-Sirma (63m) of Latvia were second and third respectively.

Rani, who had won a bronze in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, had taken part in just one Diamond League Meeting in the past -- in Lausanne in 2019 where she had also finished seventh with 59.35m.

She had also failed to qualify for the final round of the World Championships in August with a throw of 57.05m in the qualification round.