South African duo Ruswahl Samaai & Luvo Manyonga on Friday qualified for the men’s Long Jump Final at the Khalifa International Stadium on the opening day of the IAAF World Championships in Doha.
Samaai, the reigning African champion and 2017 world bronze medalist, jumped a distance of 801 metres while Manyonga, the defending world champion, jumped 7.91 metres.
Samaai (5th) and Manyonga (10th) were way behind the leading jump of 8.40 metres by world indoor champion Juan Miguel Echevarría of Cuba. Echevarría was the only athlete to register the automatic qualifying distance of 8.15 metres.
Echevarría’s career best is 8.68 metres, Manyonga’s is 8.66 metres while Samaai’s is 8.49 metres.
The three men are among a field of 12 which will compete for the world title in the final on Saturday.
