Pakistan’s Shajar Abbas failed to qualify for the final of the 200m in the Asian Athletics Championship on Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand.
He finished third in his heat during the semi-final while clocking 21.04 seconds. However, the timing of the last athlete who qualified for the final was 20.99.
The top two from each of the three heats and the next two fastest qualified for the final.
Earlier in the day, during the first round, Abbas completed the 200m race in 21.06 seconds — finishing seventh among 36 runners — and secured the second position in the fifth heat to qualify for the semi-final.
On the other hand, another Pakistani sprinter Abdul Moeed Baloch failed in the heat of 200 as he finished fifth in 21.86 seconds.
The top four from each of the five heats and the four after them with the best timing qualified for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile on Friday, Abbas failed to qualify for the final of the 100m event after finishing fourth while clocking 10.45 during his heat. He could have qualified for the final if he had repeated his personal best of 10.37 seconds, since the last athlete who qualified for the next round had a time of 10.38 seconds.
Apart from Abbas, the Pakistan team in the event comprises javelin thrower Mohammad Yasir Sultan (WAPDA) and sprinters Abdul Moeed (PAF) and Esha Imran (WAPDA).
However, Esha was stopped from competing in the Asian Meet in Thailand last evening after authorities came to know that the athlete has tested positive for the use of Anabolic Androgenic steroid, a banned substance that is commonly used by athletes through injections.
The Anabolic Androgenic steroid is the same performance enhancing steroid that Ben Johnson used to break Carl Lewis world record clocking 9.81s for hundred meters.
Coach Rana Sajjad is accompanying the team to provide guidance and support making sure that the athletes are performing up to their best.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.