Abubaker Haydar Abdalla
Five months after clinching the Asian 800m titles at the Khalifa International Stadium, Qatar’s Abubaker Haydar Abdalla will begin his quest for glory today at a bigger stage at the same venue, eyeing a podium finish at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
It will be a tough task for 23-year-old Abubaker and his team-mate Jamal Hairane in the men’s 800m heats, who will be up against the world’s best middle-distance runners in the world.
Botswana’s Nijel Amos and American Donavan Brazier have been the two best 800-meter runners of 2019.
Amos is the world leader while Brazier is the Diamond League champion. He has three DL wins while Brazier has two.
Abubaker ran 1:44.33 - a world lead at that time – to win gold for Qatar at the Asian Athletics Championships 2019 last April.
Among competitors in Doha, Amos has recorded the best time 1:41.89 this year followed by Kenya’s Ferguson Rotich 1:42.54 and Brazier 1:42.70.
The hosts have entered the mega event with 18 of their top track and field stars with reigning world high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim and star hurdler Abderrahman Samba being their main medal hopes.
Apart from Abubaker and Hairane, Samba will also be seen in action today in the 400m hurdles semi-finals. He finished on top among 39 runners in the first round yesterday.
Sprinter Owaab Barrow bowed out of the men’s 100m race in the first heat after clearing the preliminary stage with a personal best of 10.63 secs.
