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Commonwealth Games: Shajar misses 100m semi-final despite the career-best time
It was only by 0.01 seconds that Shajar Abbas missed the semi-finals of the 100-meter race at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, despite being one of the top 27 participants in the competition. Even so, his time of 10.38 seconds set a new record for Pakistani athletes competing in international competitions. The sprinter, a 22-year-old, competed in heat 8 of the 100 metres. At 10.38 seconds, he set a new personal best and finished fourth in this heat.
Athletes with the greatest times would advance to the semifinals in addition to the top two players from each of the ten heats, per athletics rules. Shajar Abbas came up just short in his heat, missing out on a spot among the top two competitors by only 0.01 seconds. Shajar’s timing was surprisingly good, ranking 27th out of a field of 2,000 competitors. However, he failed to make it into the following round after finishing outside of the top 27 players. In the second heat, Australia’s Jake Doran finished second with a time of 10.39 seconds and advanced to the semi-finals. Shajar was denied a place in the semi-finals despite his advantage in time. President Akram Sahi of the Pakistan Athletics Federation verified to Geo News that Shajar had run the fastest 100-meter time ever by a Pakistani at any international competition. As of this writing, Pakistan has yet to win a medal at the Birmingham Olympics.
