Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was not at his best as he managed a second-place finish, failing to hit the 85m mark under overcast skies at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet here on Friday.

Chopra could only produce a best throw of 84.14m which came in his sixth and final attempt. He was stuck in the third place until the end of the penultimate round.

Germany’s Julian Weber, who had beaten Chopra for the top spot in the Doha Diamond League on May 16 in a 90m duel, emerged victorious once again with his second round throw of 86.12m. Two-time world champions Anderson Peters of Grenada was third with a best throw of 83.24m. Chopra, the reigning world champion had only failed to breach the 85m mark on five occasions prior to Friday, the last time being at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar in May last year where he threw 82.27m.

The double Olympic medallist India began with a foul and then notched an 81.28m effort in his second throw. Chopra’s third and fourth throws were fouls. He threw 81.40m in the fifth round, which kept him at the third spot before the 84.14m effort in his last attempt took him to the second spot. Chopra’s next event will be the Golden Spike 2025 athletics meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 24. The next Diamond League which has men’s javelin in the roster is in Paris on June 20.