Shajar sprints his way into 200m final

BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan’s young sprinter Shajar Abbas is performing well at the athletics competitions of the Commonwealth Games being held here at the Alexander Stadium.

Late Friday night, Shajar blasted his way into the 200m final.

Shajar on Friday fell two micro-seconds short of his personal best timing by clocking 20.89 to make it to the finals.

Shajar,though, finished third in his first semi-final and had to wait for his seat in the final.

As per rules the first two best in each three semi-finals and the next two fastest had to progress to the final. And Shajar met that standard as he finished overall at the eighth spot out of 24 sprinters who took part in the semi-finals and was lucky to progress.

England’s Zharkhel Hughes topped that list with 20.32 seconds while he was followed by Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago with 20.40 seconds. Joseph Paul Amoah of Ghana ended third with 20.51 seconds.

Shajar on Thursday had qualified for the semi-finals by clocking 21.12 seconds to top his heat-2.

He is a fine athlete and has been doing well for the last few months. “He is a natural talent and he is also my student. He will go a long way,” Shajar's teacher, who is here in Birmingham acting as a contingent official, told ‘The News’.