There were no surprises as Hima Das entered the women’s 400m final after winning her semifinal in 52.10s at the IAAF World junior athletics championships on Wednesday.
Her main rival, American Taylor Manson won the second semifinal in 53.00s while Asian junior champion Jisna Mathew failed to make the final after finishing fifth in the same race in 53.86s.
“I think I went too hard in the first 200m. The 400 is a very technical event, I hope to make the necessary adjustments and clock my best time in the final,” said Hima, the Assam sprinter, who was once again the fastest qualifier from the three semifinal heats.
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Meanwhile, Asian junior champion Ashish Jakhar qualified for the men’s hammer throw final with a best of 70.52m while the other Indian Damneet Singh was far away from his best and failed to make the cut after finishing sixth in his qualification group with 67.48m.
In the men’s 400m, Gaurav crashed out after the first round heat after taking the fifth spot with 48.61s.
On Tuesday night, India’s Kartik Kumar finished 12th in the men’s 10,000m in 30:30.28s. Kenyan Rhonex Kipruto won the event in a meet record time of 27:21.08.
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In the women’s discus throw, Arpandeep Kaur missed qualifying for the final with a best of 48.17m in the qualification round.