India’s Avinash Sable and Murali Sreesankar have qualified for the 3000m steeplechase and long jump finals, respectively, on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships here on Friday.
Sable made the final after finishing third in his heat with a time of 8:18.75. The top three from each of the three heats along with the next six fastest made the cut for the final, which will be held on Monday ( early morning Tuesday in India).
Sable, 27, who has reached the final in Doha, is a current national record holder. At the Rabat Diamond League last month, he clocked 8.12.48 in the final, bettering own previous national record (8.16.21) by over three second.
It was the eighth time that Sable broke the national record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. He first broke the then 37-year-old mark of 8.30.88 set by Gopal Saini in 2018 at the inter state championships after clocking 8.29.80.
