Isinbayeva scrambles into pole vault final

AFP

Saturday, March 13, 2010

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) —Liu Xiang's global comeback was a muted success yesterday with the Chinese hurdler admitting it would be a far cry to imagine him contending for a podium place in the world indoor 60m hurdles.

Meanwhile, there was one awful moment for organisers of the World Indoor Championships when the threat of Yelena Isinbayeva not qualifying for the women's pole vault final loomed after botching two attempts at 4.55m.

The Russian managed to nail her third and final effort to ensure there was no early repeat of her failure at last year's World Outdoor Championships in Berlin when she failed to register a successful vault.

"I was just a little bit nervous," said Isinbayeva. "I had to wait two-and-a-half hours before my first jump, then when I was ready there were some technical problems and I had to wait another 30 minutes.

"It's difficult to keep up your energy," the three-time world indoor champion said. "But I managed and I'm now looking forward to the final with the aim of winning and breaking the record."

Liu, the defending hurdles champion, said he had felt no nerves but could do no better than a scrambling third in his heat in 7.79sec, 0.19sec off leading American duo Terrence Trammell and David Oliver, with reigning Olympic 110m hurdles champion Dayron Robles of Cuba also in the hunt.

"My tendon is sore, very uncomfortable. I have no power and no strength," Liu complained, referring to his achilles operation in December 2008.

In his first appearance at a global championship since withdrawing injured from his 110m hurdles heat at the Beijing Olympic Games, Liu added: "It is impossible for me to get a medal. I'm just happy to go through to the semi-final -- I'll treat that as my final."

Trammell acknowledged that he had a great shot at adding a third indoor title to his triumphs in 2001 and 2006.

"I'm feeling good right now. I'm healthy, and I want to make it through as safely as possible. It's a great chance there'll be three (titles)."

British sprinter Dwain Chambers, who shared the silver medal at the 2008 world indoors in Valencia, moved smoothly into the men's 60m semi-finals with the top time of 6.59sec.

"It felt good but it's still early days yet, I've still got to keep an eye on my opposition," said Chambers, who served a two-year suspension for taking a banned steriod and dubbed as "unfortunate" the absence of top-rated American Ivory Williams because of a three-month doping suspension.

Ethiopian hopes of winning a consecutive middle-distance double in the men and women's 1,500 and 3,000m were buoyed by all the defending champions easing through at the Aspire dome.

Meseret Defar topped the times of the first round of the women's 3,000m to continue her bid to win a record fourth consecutive indoor title.

Defending champion in the men's event Tariku Bekele also went through but faces tough opposition in Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat, who is seeking to recapture the title he first won six years ago.

Defending women's high jump champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia and Australia's reigning Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker both made easy work of qualification.

American Bryan Clay was in pole to defend his heptathlon title with the first day's lead of 3,549 points, with Russian Aleksey Drozdov a point behind, Ukraine's Oleksiy Kasyanov in third (3,477), and Clay's teammate and reigning world champion Trey Hardee in fourth a further 15 adrift.

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Isinbayeva scrambles into pole vault final