Cheng'etich, Chebet glide into 1500m final

IN DOHA

Defending champion Faith Chepng'etich Kipyegon and compatriot Winnie Chebet stormed into the women's 1500m final in the Doha World Championships on Thursday.

Cheng'etich finished fourth in the first semi-final that was won by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands - whose coach Alberto Salazar was banned on Tuesday over doping.

Chebet finished fifth to also qualify in Heat 2 that was won by American Jenny Simpson in 4:00.99.

Hassan, running from the back for the better part of the race, exploded in the last 200m to win in 4:14.69, with American Shelby Houlihan and Morocco's Rababe Arafi second and third respectively.

Chepng'etich, the winner of the global title two years ago in London, timed 4:14.98 for fourth place to make it to Saturday's final which starts at 8.55pm EAT. Chepng'etich, who looked disappointed by her performance, did not speak to the media after the race.

However Chebet, who timed 4:01.14, observed that Thursday’s semi-final races had proved difficult.

“We had big names in the semi-finals and now that we have qualified for the final, I pray that we go on to win a medal on Saturday,” Chebet, who was boxed inside the inner lane, said.

Chebet said she will rectify her approach to the race with her coach before the final race.

“My hope and prayer is that we do well in the final. There are things I need to rectify, such as choice of lane and strategy of running. These are the things I must take care of,” she added.

The athlete was happy with the fact that she will run alongside Chepng'etich in the final, something she said gives them a chance to plan how to tackle Dutch Sifan Hassan, who has already won gold in women’s 10,000m races. Hassan finished third at the 2015 Championship held in China.

The top five athletes from Thursday’s semi-finals qualified for the final alongside two fastest losers.