Xiamen Diamond League 2023: Avinash Sable finishes 5th; qualifies for final in Eugene

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India's Avinash Sable finished a creditable fifth in the men's 3000m steeplechase event of the Xiamen Diamond League 2023 on Saturday to qualify for the grand finale in Eugene, USA later this month.

Avinash Sable, who had failed to qualify for the final round in the World Championships in Hungary last month, clocked 8 minutes 16.27 seconds, well below his season's best of 8:11.63 and national record time of 8:11.20.

Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won the race with a time of 8:10.31, while Samuel Firewu (8:11.29) of Ethiopia and Amos Serem (8:14.41) of Kenya were second and third respectively.

28-year-old Sable, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, collected four points from the race for a total of 11 points from four events this season. He qualified for the September 16 Diamond League finals in Eugene, USA, at sixth place. This will be his maiden Diamond League final appearance.

He will join Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra (also on September 16) and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar (on September 17). In the three earlier Diamond League Meetings this year, Sable had finished 10th in Rabat (Morocco), fifth in Stockholm and sixth in Silesia (Poland).

In men's triple jump, national record holder Praveen Chithravel finished fifth with a mediocre 16.42m effort while Abdulla Aboobacker was sixth with 16.25m. Chithravel's national record stands at 17.37m, while Aboobacker, the reigning Asian champion, has a personal best of 17.19m.

Both failed to qualify for the Diamond League finals as they ended at ninth and tenth respectively on the standings. The top six in the standings in field events and top 10 in distance races qualify for the DL finals.

Both Chithravel and Aboobacker had also failed to qualify for the final round of the World Championships last month. Chithravel had finished sixth in the Monaco leg of Diamond League while Aboobacker had taken the same spot in Florence.

-PTI