IAAF World C'ships, Day 1: Jabir qualifies for 400mH semis; Dharun, Sreeshankar falter

India's Madari Pillyalil Jabir finished third in Heat 1 of the 400 metres hurdles event, while Dharun Ayyasamy failed to qualify from Heat 5.

India's Jabir Madari Pillyalil finished third in the 400m hurdles heats.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's Live coverage of Day one of the IAAF World Championships at Doha.

So that's it for today! Tune in again tomorrow as India's Dutee Chand will be in action in the 100 metres heats, while the Indian mixed team will take part in the 4*400 metres relay heats and last but not the least Jabir will participate in the 400 metre hurdles semifinals.

Men's 400m hurdles

• India's JabirMadari Pillyalil is in Heat 1. He finishes third with a timing of 49.62s. First place and favourite Karsten Warholm of Norway finished the race in 49.27s, while Ireland's Thomas Warr crossed the finish line in 49.41s. Kemar Mowatt of Jamaica is the final athlete to qualify from the first heat.
• In Heat 2, Kyron McMaster (49.60s), Alison Dos Santos (49.66s), Chieh Chen (49.95s) and Luke Campbell (50.20s) have all qualified.
• In Heat 3, home hope Abderrahman Samba (49.08s), Takatoshi Abe (49.25s), TJ Holmes (49.50s)and Rilwan Alowonle (50.04s) have qualified for the semifinals.
• Another favourite Rai Benjamin of USA finishes first with ease in Heat 4 with a timing of 49.62s. Mohamed Touati (49.76s), Patryk Dobek (49.89s) and Vit Muller (50.15s) are the others to progress.
• Dharun Ayyasamy is in Heat 5. And Dharun is eliminated. Rasmus Magi (49.34s), Ludvy Vaillant (49.49s), Abdelmalik Lahoulou (49.54s) and Chris Mcalister (49.73s) were the top four.
• NOTE: Amere Lattin (49.72s), Yasmani Copello (49.75s), Fernando Vega (49.95s) and Masaki Toyoda (50.34s) have all qualified to the next round as well on account of finishing with comparatively better timings to the rest of the pack.

Men's 5000m

Barega wins in 13:24.69sec and Krop finishes second by clocking 13:24.94. That was so close!

• Stay tuned as soon M.P. Jabir and A. Dharun will be competing in the men's 400m hurdles, heats. After a disappointing start, let's hope the duo end the day on a good note.

• The final field event of the evening - Men's triple jump qualifying is underway with 17.10m set as an automatic mark.

   

Men's 100m

• Christian Coleman made a smooth start to his bid for World Championship gold, romping to a comfortable victory in the opening round of the 100 metres heats.
• Former world champion Yohan Blake clocks 10.07 as Jimmy Vicaut follows him second with Arthur Cisse sealing the third automatic spot in Heat four.

 

Men's Long Jump  Qualifying

• Sreeshankar Murali fails to qualify for the final in men's long jump as he finished with a best leap of 7.62m, while the qualification mark was set at 8.15. He finished 22nd out of 27 jumpers.
• India's Sreeshankar Murali fails to touch the qualifying mark of 8.15m. In his first attempt, he leaps 7.52m, betters a bit in the second by leaping 7.62m and then in the third attempt - X (No mark).
• Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba books a place in the final with a leap of 8.40m. That was some statement from the Cuban!
• There are 27 men competing in the qualifying event in two groups with 8.15m set as the automatic qualifying mark.
• However, the top 12 are guaranteed a place in the final even though they don't better the qualifying mark.
• Right then, the very first event of the day - long jump qualification is all set to begin. 

Women's 800m Heats

• Ajee Wilson of the Unites States starts favourite as they will be competing in six heats and the top three in each will qualify for the semifinals.

Women's Hammer Throw Qualifying

• The women's hammer throw qualifying event is underway and the automatic qualification mark is set at 72.00.
• Alexandra Tavernier has already secured a place in the final with a throw of 72.91.

Beat The Heat: A general view from the Torch Doha during day one of 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships.

 

Men's 100m

• Ebrima Camara wins by clocking 10.36sec.
• There will be four heats and the winner will be through along with five fastest losers. The event is currrently underway. Mind you, there is no Usain Bolt since Osaka 2007.

 

Indians in action

On day one, M Sreeshankar will represent India in the qualification round of the very first event - long jump. Towards the end of the day, India's Dharun Ayyasamy and JM Pilayil will take part in the 400m hurdles heats.

 

SQUAD:

Men: Jabir MP (400m Hurdles), Jinson Johnson (1500m), Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase), K. T. Irfan and Devender Singh (20km Race Walk), Gopi T. (Marathon), Sreeshankar M. (Long Jump), Tajinder Pal Singh Toor (Shot Put), Shivpal Singh (Javelin Throw), Muhammed Anas, Nirmal Noah Tom, Alex Antony, Amoj Jacob, K. S. Jeevan, Dharun Ayyasamy and Harsh Kumar (4x400m Men and Mixed Relay).

Women: P. U. Chitra (1500m), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw), Hima Das, Vismaya V. K., Poovamma M. R., Jisna Mathew, Revathi V, Subha Venkatsan, Vithya R (4x400m Women and Mixed Relay).

Preview

World’s top athletes will aim to dish out a spirited show when the IAAF World Championships kicks off on Friday.

For India, the event hasn’t been too fruitful as only Anju Bobby George had managed a medal in long jump at the 2003 edition of the Games in Paris.

However, a lot will be expected from ace sprinter Dutee Chand and middle-distance runner Jinson Johnson this time round.

FULL SCHEDULE| IAAF World Championships: Indians in action, timings in IST

Dutee had a dream outing at the World University Championships where she bagged a gold following which the IAAF had invited her to join the Indian team.

Dutee will once again feature in the 100-metre event.

India had also suffered a jolt when Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das had to skip the event due to injury. While javelin thrower Neeraj is not taking part as he has been doing only light training since May, having undergone elbow surgery, Hima pulled out due to a lower back injury after being named in the team initially.

In Neeraj’s absence, all eyes will be on another javelin thrower Shivpal Singh while Annu Rani will lead India's charge in the women's category of the discipline. Meanwhile, Tejaswin Shankar has also decided to give the event a miss, which is another blow for India.

READ| IAAF World Championships: A close look at Indians in the fray

In such a scenario, Asian Games gold medallist Johnson is expected to delight the Indian fans. He is currently training with his coach in USA.

Long jumper M. Sreeshankar, who has recovered from an injury, will also try to deliver his best. In the National Open Championships last year, Sreeshankar had broken the national record after jumps of 8.11 and 8.20 metres.

In the 4x400m men's relay and mixed relay events, Muhammed Anas, Noah Nirmal, Alex Antony, Harsh Kumar, Amoj Jacob, K.S. Jeevan and Dharun Ayyasamy will be expected to do well.

The shot put event will feature Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, who had clinched gold in the Asian Games.