Avinash Sable failed to shift gears in qualifying round of steeplechase, bows out early in world championships

India's Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medalist, Avinash Sable, was eliminated in the preliminary round of the men's 3000m steeplechase on the opening day of the Budapest World Athletics Championships in Hungary.

Sable squandered chances in a slow tactical race to finish seventh with a time of 8:22.24 seconds, slower than his season best of 8:11.63 seconds, to bow out early in the global competition on Saturday. As per the new rules of the World Athletics, the top five in each of the three heats advance to the medal round.

Despite vast international exposure in the last two years, Sable looked confused as the race progressed. The 28-year-old national record in steeplechase couldn’t unleash his fast finishing kick in the last lap to end his Budapest World Athletics Championships on a disappointing note. Meanwhile, Morocco's defending champion Soufiane El Bakkali and world record holder Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia, both strong contenders for medals, made it to the final.

Sable was neatly tucked in the leading group in the fifth spot at the end of the first 1000m. The Indian athletes moved to third spot at the 2000m mark. At 2500m he was lying at fourth spot and still in contention for the medal round. However, in the last lap, he wasn't able to shift into top gear and eventually finished seventh.

Sable was a finalist at the 2022 Eugene World Athletics. He made an impressive debut at the 2019 global competition in Doha by making the cut for the final and improving the national record.

Other Indian athletes' performance in the World Championships

Earlier in the day, due to bad weather conditions in Budapest, the morning schedule was delayed by more than an hour. The men’s 20km race walk was delayed by more than an hour. Three Indian race walkers---Vikash Singh (27th position), Paramjeet Singh Bisht (35th) and Akashdeep Singh (47th) weren’t able to repeat their recent past performances and finished outside the top 20 in the highly competitive field. Spanish race walker Alvaro Martin won the gold with a time of 1:17.32.

At the jumping arena, the trio of Eldhose Paul (15.59m), Praveen Chithravel (16.38m) and Abdulla Aboobacker (16.61m) performance wasn’t good enough to earn them a place in the medal round. The automatic qualification was 17.15m or the top 12 athletes in the preliminary qualification round advanced to the final.

Promising teenage long jump Shaili Singh's best jump on Saturday was 6.40m. She too wasn’t able to progress to the medal round. The automatic qualification was 6.80m or top 12 progress to the medal round.

Of the nine Indian athletes in the fray on the opening day, middle-distance runner Ajay Kumar Saroj was impressive in his 1500m heat, clocking a personal best of 3:38.24 seconds, but finished 13th. As per the new competition rules of the World Athletics the top six move on to the next round.

Saroj’s previous best of 3:39.89 was clocked in May in California. However, he will have the satisfaction to improve his performance ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to be held in September in China.