Our talented national team champion Musaab Abdulrahman Balla qualified for the 800m final after locking himself in a fierce battle with Kenyan record holder David Rudisha, qualifying for the final alongside Rudisha. Qatar’s outstanding champion finished second alongside Rudisha with a time of 1:47.93, while Rudisha topped the semi-final in 1:47.60, giving himself a great chance to challenge for a medal at the 2015 World Athletics Championships being hosted by the Bird’s Nest Stadium in the Chinese capital Beijing, with more than 2,000 male and female athletes competing for 47 gold medals and other colored medals.
Musaab booked his place in the final after shining in the challenge against the champions, in a race that produced plenty of surprises — most notably the elimination of Ethiopian world champion Mohammed Aman despite posting the best times of both heats in the semi-finals, though the championship’s judges saw otherwise. Musaab stood out alongside Rudisha, Amel Tuka and fellow Kenyan Ferguson Rotich, while Aman and Botswana’s Nijel Amos were among the first casualties of the showdown.
Our champion happy to be in the final
After the race, promising Qatari champion Musaab Balla expressed his happiness at qualifying for the final, prostrating in thanks to God for the strength with which he had announced himself among the giants, and for the great chance to reach the podium in the final in two days’ time. Speaking to the press after the race, Musaab said: “It was a tough, demanding race dominated by tactics on more than one occasion, with the champions focusing on keeping the technical level of the race high. But the difficulty of the competition, and the runners’ wariness of each other for fear of being eliminated without reaching the final, held back the overall pace. Still, I am happy with the work I put in to reach the final, and of course things will be different in the final. I feel the competition is strong, and it happened that most of the champions are at their peak level, so I expect the final to be even stronger than the heats — unlike what usually happens, where the semi-final is normally the strongest stage.”
The promising Qatari champion added: “I will give everything I have to reach the podium I am aiming for, to honour my country with this achievement and to further my career for the better.”
Qatar’s improving champion confirmed that he has a full day ahead to prepare with his world-class coach Jama Aden, so as to go into tomorrow’s final with more focus and better tactics, especially since the competition will not be easy — but difficulty must be overcome with determination and will in pursuit of a world medal at this great event.
