Cheruiyot, Kwemoi into 1500m semis as Taki, Manangoi exit

IN DOHA

Kenya's 2017 London World silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot and Rodgers Kwemoi made it to the 1500m semi-finals in the Doha World Championships on Thursday.

The other two Kenyans in the event, George Manangoi and Kumari Taki, fell by the wayside in the heats that were marred by massive push-and-shove and falls at the Khalifa Stadium.

Manangoi finished 10th in 3:38.39 in heat one which was won by Norwegian teen sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 3:37.67 while Taki was ninth in 3:37.98 in heat two won by Cheruiyot.

The top eight finishers in Heat two, which Cheruiyot won in 3:36.82, made it to Friday's semi-finals.

Kwemoi sneaked through as one of the fastest six losers after finishing seventh in heat Three in 3:36.66. The race was won by veteran Djibouti metric-mile athlete Ayanleh Souleiman in 3:36.16.

“My target in the race was to be in the semi-finals, and I have achieved it. Focus now shifts to the semi-finals where again we will seek to reach the final,” Cheruiyot said.

“The heat was not quick as usual, and that means there is room for improvement going into the semis. My target is to reach the final, then we can work as a team to deliver medals for Kenya,” added Cheruiyot.

'MISSED ELIJAH'

Cheruiyot admitted he missed reigning world champion Elijah Manang’oi, who is also his training partner.

“I missed Manang’oi in the race because he is my training partner and he is a strong guy who unfortunately got an injury. I will do my best to ensure the title he won in 2017 remains in Kenya,” he said.

Kwemoi blamed his poor finish in the race on pushing and shoving among the athletes in the last 200m in the race.

“There was a lot of pushing in the race. It’s like all the other athletes were keeping an eye on Kenyans,” he said.