30 Sep 2019
Doha, 30 September 2019. Aspire Academy graduate and Qatar’s middle-distance runner, Abubaker Haydar Abdalla who had breezed through the qualifying heats to reach the semis at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, missed out on reaching the final of the men’s 800m at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday 30th September.
The Aspire graduate was cheered on by a partisan home crowd as the current Asian champion surged in front and led for some time. Having clocked 1:46.11 to reach the semis a day earlier after finishing second in heat 2, Abubaker was hoping to finish in the top two or equal his PB of 1:44.33 that he achieved in winning the Asian title this year in April to reach the final. It wasn’t to be and his time of 1:46.87 fell short.
Abubaker led for the most part of his heat just like before but he faded near the end, and saw the other runners overtake him. On Saturday after the heats he said “It was a good position. As planned, my target was to get to the semi-final, and thanks to God I managed to. Hopefully, I will qualify for the final,” Abubaker said after the race.
The Qatari middle-distance runner went on to say, “I think with a time of 1:44s, you should be in the final. I am looking forward to the semi-final and will run with confidence to try reach the final. It felt great, the cheers here. I feel so great to be here again. Competing in two major championships within months on your home soil is great,” the 23-year-old said.
The semi-final of the men’s 800m held on Sunday 29th September Abubaker Haydar said after missing out on the final which is scheduled for October 1st, “It’s been my first world championships and l wanted to be in the final, but l didn’t execute my race as well as l would have liked. I went a bit fast in the first lap and by the final 200metres slowed down as l had little left in the legs. I will learn from this experience and will be back stronger. Now l cheer on fellow Aspire student athletes and graduates as well as Qatar athletes still in the competition as we look to get medals at this home World Championships.”