New Delhi, Jan 29 (IANS): Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday congratulated country's ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as he qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the Athletics Central North East meeting in South Africa.
Taking to Twitter, Rijiju said: "A great comeback from injury by Neeraj Chopra and then qualifying for Tokyo 2020."
"Olympics is a great achievement! Determination, passion and strength made it possible to throw 87.86m much beyond the qualifying benchmark of 85m. Well done Neeraj!" he added.
An elbow injury had forced Neeraj to miss competitive action for most part of 2019.
He was expected to participate in the National Open Athletics Championship late last year, but the AFI decided to allow Neeraj more time to get competition ready.