RUGBY | Page 4 FOOTBALLFOOTBALL| Page 7 Irish steel Mbappe set to out to crumple be back for PSG Japan’s aft er month’s Ferraris absence Saturday, September 28, 2019 ATHLETICS Muharram 29, 1441 AH Gold no mission GULF TIMES impossible for Netherlands’ Sifan SPORT Page 2 SPOTLIGHT Samba fi res gold warning by topping qualifying times ‘This is the first race after the injury. Even though the time does not suggest so, but it was a big injury’ By Mikhil Bhat Talking about his Worlds debut, he Doha said, “Just having the US on your chest takes you to another level. I just felt like I cannot let my teammates down.” nyone who has followed the There was a lot more to witness as the men’s 400m hurdles in the last seventeenth edition of the IAAF World two years, very well know that Athletics Championships got off to a the discipline has seen a ren- roaring start at a packed Khalifa Inter- Aaissance of sorts in recent times. national Stadium yesterday. More than a quarter of a century af- Braima Dabo of Guinea-Bissau and ter American Kevin Young set the world Jonathan Busby of Aruba off ered a visual record of 46.78 in Barcelona, Qatar’s Ab- lesson in sportsmanship in the fi rst heat derrahman Samba became only the sec- of the men’s 5,000m fi rst round when ond man to breach the magical 47-sec- the latter lost his legs halfway through ond mark when he ran a 46.98 in Paris the fi nal lap, and had to be helped last year. through to the fi nish line. This year, however, world cham- Dabo held on to Busby for the rest of pion Karsten Warholm of Norway and the lap as the decibel levels at the sta- American sensation Rai Benjamin too dium rose high in appreciation. have breached the barrier, setting up This was after Ethiopian Selemon a mouth-watering clash at the Doha Barega enjoyed a massive cheer from the Worlds. huge contingent of African fans at the Yesterday, home star Samba ran the state-of-the-art stadium for his win in fastest time of the day – 49.08 seconds, 13:24.69. Olympic silver medallist Paul modest by his standards – with Japan’s Chelimo of the US ran the fastest time Takatoshi Abe fi nishing behind the Qa- of the 5,000m heats, 13:20.18, and cel- tar athlete in the third heat. ebrated with arms spread wide. And he The two went faster than the Norwe- fi nished with only one shoe on. gian star Warholm, who won the fi rst Chelimo’s compatriot Christian Tay- heat in 49.27 seconds, while Benjamin lor stopped short of the 17.10m mark in was the tenth fastest overall in 49.62s the triple jump competition but reck- after topping the fourth heat. oned his 16.99m was good enough to But heats are by no measure an indi- take him through to the fi nal passing on cation for things to come today as the on his last attempt. competition heads into the semis today Portugal’s Pedro Pablo Pichardo and and then into the fi nals on Monday. Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso However, Samba did not fail to fi re a were the only ones with the Big Q (pass- warning shot when asked if a gold is a ing the qualifi cation standard) at the fair expectation of him. “Gold,” pat came end of the qualifi cation round with the his reply, adding, “and something else.” Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba (C) leaps over a hurdle on way to winning bis 400m hurdles heat at the Khalifa International Stadium yesterday. T J Holmes of the US Cuban-born Pichardo jumping a 17.38m Never has Young’s 1992 record been and Netherlands’ Nick Smidt are also seen. and Zango a 17.17m. under a bigger threat than this year, es- In the women’s pole vault, 17 athletes pecially with Samba making his inten- year, Samba said, “Actually that’s good. him to the fi nish,” Warholm said after including 2017 champion Katerina Ste- tions crystal clear, and the rest of the Especially in hurdles when you see the the heats. fanidi of Greece and European indoor fi eld in top form. athletes running so close to each other, “But also Rai is chasing me since Zu- champion Anzhelika Sidorova cleared “This is the fi rst race after the injury. they make each other go fast, and make rich and he wants to beat me. the standard of 4.60m for their place in Even though the time does not suggest the race exciting.” “I do not feel pressure and I do not the fi nal. so, but it was a big injury. I am Ok today Warholm, for his part, understands think of the time too much but I just World record holder Beatrice Chep- though. With this result I am so happy the enormity of his task given that his need to execute what I am supposed to koech (8:44.32) of Kenya topped the ti- and I am looking forward to tomorrow,” title defence is under a threat. “It was a do. On the other hand, the time is im- mecharts for the fi rst round of the wom- the 24-year-old said. solid run. I enjoyed it. Of course, Samba portant too.” Benjamin, 22, said he was en’s 3000m steeplechase with a time Asked if he was worried given the is competing on his home soil so every- “focused on myself” and that he was of 9:18.01, beating American Courtney times of Warholm and Benjamin this body will watch him and literally push “really excited for tomorrow”. Frerichs in the second heat. BOTTOMLINE Coleman turns heat on rivals with blazing 9.81 By Mikhil Bhat ever, two days before his hearing The 37-year-old won the sec- fi nish line. Doha earlier this month, the US Anti ond heat in 10.06 seconds ahead “Things have been going Doping Agency (USADA) with- of Canadian Andre de Grasse in good. I didn’t get the best start drew the charges. 10.13 seconds. but I came through. I feel pretty It felt great.” That’s all And here he was at the air- “It feels great to be back in good with myself knowing that that you could get out of conditioned Khalifa Interna- Doha. I have a lot of history I can stay tall and run from be- American sprinter Chris- tional Stadium yesterday. here,” Gatlin said after his heat. hind,” Blake said after his nar- tian Coleman right after He won the sixth and fi nal “I wanted to come back and row win. “he ran the only sub-10 second heat of the blue riband event be healthy. I had an injury two Nigerian Divine Oduduru, the time of the day in the men’s with ease, topping the time weeks ago, so I am happy to second fastest man in the fi eld 100m heats on the fi rst day of charts with a 9.98-second run. run my fi rst race healthy and be this season, did not start his the IAAF World Championships The heats started with Afri- dominant. I want to go home, heat, which was won by Brazil- Doha 2019 yesterday. can champion Akane Simbine rest and get ready for the next ian Paulo Andre Camilo de Ol- The 23-year-old had run the winning in a fi ne time of 10.01 round. iviera in 10.11 seconds. fastest time this season, a blis- seconds ahead of Canadian Aar- “Moving forward, I just want “I am happy to be here, with tering 9.81 seconds at the Pre- on Brown in 10.16 seconds. to stay focused on my race and my race but I want more. I want fontaine Classic in Palo Alto, American Justin Gatlin was execute each phase and be able to run well the semifi nals and California, in June. back in the city where he ran a to come out on top.” reach my goal of running the Even as he registered four personal best of 9.74 seconds Praising the hosts, he said, fi nal,” the silver medallist from more sub-10 second times this four years ago in the Doha Dia- “The Qataris are very impres- the Pan-American Games ear- season, Coleman’s participation mond League. And not even a sive with all their technology. lier this year said. at the Worlds had been under a minor hamstring injury he sus- They take pride in what they do. “Doha is good and the atmos- cloud after it emerged that he tained a few weeks ago in Zagreb The technology is world class phere has been great. We also had missed three doping tests. could stop the defending World and cutting edge for both the want to defend out relay gold (L-R) Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, USA’s Even his participation in To- champion from throwing in his athletes and the spectators.” from the World Relays in Japan. Christian Coleman and Brazil’s Rodrigo Do kyo next year was thrown in hat at a time when there has Jamaican Yohan Blake won The team is ready.” Nascimento compete in the 100m heats in the doubt given that he could have been a lot of noise around the the fourth heat in 10.07 seconds The semi-fi nal will be at 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships at the been banned for a year if the young blood in the post-Usain just about edging out French- 6:45pm today, with the fi nal Khalifa International stadium in Doha yesterday.