Taiwanese hurdler Chen Kuei-ru on Sunday improved on his national record twice in a day, but failed to reach the final of the men’s 60m hurdles at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Serbia.
The 28-year-old Taiwanese first clocked a time of 7.74 seconds in the heats to qualify third-fastest for the semi-finals.
Later in the day in the semi-finals, Chen improved his time to 7.67 seconds, but finished last of the eight athletes and failed to qualify for the final.
Photo: AFP
The Taiwanese said he was not happy with his overall performance.
“Breaking the national record was the least of my goals. The initial intent was to run three times [by reaching the final], or at least clock inside 7.6 seconds in order to score points,” Chen said.
He was talking about having enough accumulated points to qualify for a spot in the upcoming World Athletics Championships, which are scheduled to be held in Oregon from July 15 to 24.
The 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from Friday to Sunday in Belgrade.
Chen said that he plans to take part in the next round of competitions in Japan next month and in May.
He said his other objective this season is to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September.
The Taiwanese won silver in the men’s 110m hurdles at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta with a time of 13.39 seconds.
Prior to the competition in Serbia, his personal best in the 60m hurdles had been 7.81 seconds, a national record which he achieved at the Asian Indoor Championships in Doha in 2016.
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