'Gutted' Emmanuel Korir, Kishoyian make 400m semis

From left: Kenya's Alphas Leken Kishoyian, Jamaica's Akeem Bloomfield and Trinidad and Tobago's Machel Cedenio compete in the Men's 400m heats at the 2019 IAAF Athletics World Championships at the Khalifa International stadium in Doha on October 1, 2019. PHOTO | JEWEL SAMAD |

By  James Mwamba

Senior Sub Editor

Nation Media group

What you need to know:

  • Korir shocked many after he failed to make the 800m final - where he was the hot favourite for the gold after the withdrawal of Botswana star Nigel Amos.
  • Now the Kenyan hopes to make amends in the one-lap race that has Grenada's gold medal favourite Kirani James.

IN DOHA

Kenya's duo in the men's 800m Emmanuel Korir and Alphas Kishoyian made it to the semi-finals of the event at the 2019 World Championships.

While Korir won his heat in 45.08, Kishoyian sneaked through to the semis after finishing fourth in heat 1 won by Machel Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago in 45.26. Kishoyian clocked 45.65 to sail into the semi-finals as one of the six fastest losers.

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Korir shocked many after he failed to make the 800m final - where he was the hot favourite for the gold after the withdrawal of Botswana star Nigel Amos.

"I ran in a tough heat but I am happy to have qualified for the semi-finals as one of the fastest finishers," Kishoyian told Nation Sport in Doha.

"The winner of my heat is a strong athlete, and we anticipate strong competition from athletes from the other heats. Anything can happen in the final," Kishoyian added.

At the same time, Kishoyian announced that he will step up to 800m after the championship.

"I want to do well here and leave a mark before stepping up to 800m," he said.

'NOT TOO FAST'

Cedino timed 45.26 to win the first heat, followed by Jamaica's Akeem Blomfield (45.34) and South Africa's Thapelo For a (45.45).

Korir timed 45.08 to win heat six and qualify alongside Belgium's Jonathan Sacoor (45.32) and Rabah Yousif (45.40) of Great Britain.

"I was not too fast in the race because it is just one of the heats. Tomorrow's semi-finals will be tougher and the aim is to finish among the top two to qualify for the final," Korir said. "It is good that both of us reached the semi-finals, and we hope to do well going forward," he added.

The first three athletes across the line in the six heats qualified for Wednesday's semi-finals alongside the six best third place finishers.

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