Tokyo Olympics: Kamalpreet Kaur enters women's discus throw final

Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur qualified for the final of the disc throw event in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics after a stunning show in the qualifiers where she finished second. Kaur, 25, competing in qualification B, threw the discus to a distance of 64 m in her third attempt to book a berth in the summit event. She was one of the two automatic qualifiers to make it through to the final, the other one being American Valarie Allman who sent the discus at 66.42 m. The final of the event will be held on August 2.

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Kaur bettered the performance of defending gold medallist Sandra Perkovic (63.75m) of Croatia and reigning world champion Yaime Perez (63.18) of Cuba. Perkovic qualified for the third round while Parez finished at seventh.

Another Indian Seema Punia, however, bowed out after finishing sixth in qualification A and 16th overall. Kaur threw the discus at 60.29m in her first attempt and bettered her performance by covering a distance of 63.97m. Every competitor gets three throws and anyone who throw the discus 64 m or beyond gets an automatic qualification for the final.

The 25-year-old has been in fine form this year and breached the 65m mark twice recently. She threw 65.06m during the Federation Cup in March to break the national record and become the first Indian to breach the 65m mark. In June, she improved her record with a throw of 66.59, in the Indian Grand Prix-4 to sit at world number six. She has a season's best of 70.22m while Allman is second best this year at 70.01m.