Avinash Sable qualifies for Diamond League Final after fifth-place finish in Xiamen

Avinash Sable joined Neeraj Chopra and M. Sreeshankar on the list of Indian athletes who have qualified for the Diamond League Final to be held in Eugene on September 16-17.

FILE PHOTO: Steeplechaser Avinash Sable. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Avinash Sable finished fifth in the men’s 3000m steeplechase at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, China, on Saturday. The result meant that the Commonwealth Games silver medallist qualified for the series finale to be held in Eugene on September 16-17.

The 28-year-old Sable, who failed to make it past the heats at the World Championships in Budapest last week, performed much better. The Indian clocked 8:16.27s, five seconds slower than his national record, to finish just behind Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who took the fourth spot with 8:15.87s.

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Reigning world and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won the race with a meeting record of 8:10.31s. Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu came second with 8:11.29s while Kenya’s Amos Serem took the third spot with 8:14.41s.

Sable earned four points for his fifth-place finish, taking his overall tally to 11 at the end of six meetings which had the men’s 3000m steeplechase event. In the overall standing, Sable finished in sixth position and made the cut for the Diamond League final where the top 10 are set to compete.

Sable joins Neeraj Chopra, reigning World, Olympic and Diamond League champion in javelin throw, and Commonwealth Games silver medallist long jumper M. Sreeshankar on the list of Indian athletes who have qualified for the Diamond League Final this season.

Men’s Triple Jump

Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker finished fifth and sixth, respectively in the men’s triple jump competition.

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Praveen, who set the national record of 17.37m earlier this year, could only come up with a best effort of 16.42m while Abdulla, Commonwealth Games silver medallist, finished behind his compatriot with 16.25m.

Andy Diaz Hernandez, who recently changed his nationality from Cuban to Italian, won the event with a jump of 17.43m. World champion Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso finished second with 17.22m while USA’s Donald Scott took the third spot with 16.65m.