By Mitch Phillips
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – American Fred Kerley will not be defending his world 100 metres title later on Sunday after he failed to progress from the semi-finals, as his compatriots Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman qualified fastest for the final.
Kerley, who has been in good form this season, was never in the mix in the last of three heats, finishing third in 10.02 to miss out on a fastest-loser slot by a hundredth of a second.
Lyles was the quickest qualifier as he posted 9.87, within a hundredth of his personal best, punching the air as he crossed the line.
Former champion Coleman got his traditional fast start and maintained his form to win the second heat in 9.88, but Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, the fastest in the world this year, was slow out of the blocks and had to work hard to clinch second spot in 9.93.
Jamaican Oblique Seville looks the best-equipped to challenge the Americans after winning the third heat in 9.90.
Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown equalled his best of 9.97 – the first time he has gone under 10 seconds this season, to also qualify automatically.
Italy’s Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs ran his season’s best of 10.05 but it was nowhere near good enough to progress.
South African Akani Simbine’s streak of finishing fourth or fifth in the last five global championships is over after he was disqualified for a false start.
The final takes place at 17.10GMT on Sunday.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ed Osmond)
