World Championships: Divine Oduduru qualifies for 200m semifinals

Nigeria’s Divine Oduduru is through to the semi-finals of the 200m men’s event at the ongoing World Championships in Doha.

Oduduru put behind him the initial uncertainties on whether he would still compete in the event as he finished in 4th place in his 200m heat to qualify for the semi-finals.

Oduduru, Africa’s joint-fastest man ever, was initially disqualified for missing the 100m after being confirmed to participate in the event. But his appeal was upheld on Sunday by the IAAF, and the sprinter was reinstated.

Pitched against the defending Champion, Ramil Guliyev of Turkey, and British Adam Gemili, Oduduru had to run very well to stand a chance of qualifying for the next round.

It was Gemili that finished tops in the race with a Season’s Best (SB) time of 20.06s ahead of Guliyev who clocked 20.27s to finish 2nd.

READ ALSO: Doha 2019: Oduduru disqualified from World Championship

The last automatic spot went to Dutch athlete Taymir Burnet who out-dipped Oduduru in 20.37s to the Nigerian’s 20.40s.

Oduduru with 20.40s went through to the semis as one of the three fastest losers from the heats and he will hope for a much better outing in that round as his qualification time is ranked a distant 19th overall

Meanwhile, the other Nigerian in the 200m Men’s event, Emmanuel Arowolo, could not pull to the semi-final having finished in a disappointing 7th position in his own Heat.