Qatar’s Samba cruises into 400m hurdles semifinals

Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba was silently preparing for the 400m hurdles while Norwegian Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin of the US, his main rivals in the discipline, were engaged in a playful war of words ahead of the World Championships in Doha.

But in the heats on Friday, the opening day of the championships, Samba eased his way to victory in 49.08 which was easily the fastest, to move into the semifinals.

Japan’s Takatoshi Abe gave Samba fierce competition in the third heat and finished in 49.25 while Warholm clocked 49.27 to come first in the first heat.

Benjamin finished in 49.62 to top the fourth heat.

Benjamin had earlier quipped that he would be the IRS (US Internal Revenue Service) after Warholm likened himself to Gordon Gekko, the greedy, ruthless character played by Michael Douglas in Hollywood film Wall Street.

While Benjamin and Warholm are engaged in exciting battles on and off the field, but has let his performance do the talking and it clearly suggests that it will not be easy for either of them.

In fact, Samba has been relatively silent in the last few months after storming onto the scene by winning the 2017 Doha Diamond League.

In June 2018 Samba clocked 46.98 in Paris, then second only to Kevin Young’s 46.78, but Warholm clocked 46.92 last year while Benjamin also touched 46.98.

The presence of three men in form makes the 400m hurdles one of the fiercely fought races, but Samba, who preferred to compete in 400m flat race in the recent months, has announced that he wants to have the last laugh in front of his fans.