Kenyans Daniel Kinyanjui and Bernard Yegon finished 7th and 9th respectively in the men's 3000M at the World Under 20 Championship races that formed part of the first day. It was far too late for the Kenyan duo when Ethiopian Tadese Worku illustrated poise, speed and confidence as he led the pack till the finish line. The Ethiopian managed to set a time of 7:42.09, a new championship record with fellow countryman Abdulmena powering into silver position with 7:44.55, a new personal best while Eritrean Samuel Habtom winning bronze in 7:52.69.
Kinynjui was the better placed Kenyan in seventh place with 8:09.40 while Yegon faded down to ninth in 8:12.96. “Today was an unlucky day for us, we had prepared well but unfortunately this is not the results we had aimed for. My body did not react well to the weather, that's why I didn't push up. We can only wish our teammates all the best in the remaining events which I hope we are going to redeem ourselves" said Kinyanjui.
The Kenyans will surely be looking to redeem themselves more so in the long distance races when Vincent Keter and Kamar Etyang dawn today's 1500M first round, hoping to secure a firm qualification on to the next round. The two are chasing tickets to Saturday's final where they will be renewing rivalry, the last time they were pitted against each other being during the national Olympics trials held at the same venue, Kasarani. The Kenyan duo will also need to be at their best, however, given the presence of Ethiopian duo of Melkeneh Azeze and Wegene Addisu, things might just get pretty much interesting.
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