A day after he narrowly missed qualifying for the World Championships in the 1500m, Ronald Musagala made up on Saturday by hitting the Moscow mark in the 800m.
The fairly big crowd in Namboole went wild in cheers as the Kampala University student battled with Kenya’s Abednego Chesebe in the semi-final to clock a personal best in the two lap race.
Chesebe, one of the big names in Kenya who missed the country’s national championship in Nairobi last weekend because of injury, won the race in one minute 45.37 seconds.
Musagala was hot on Chesebe’s heels to take second position in 1:45.49.
The qualifying time for the August 10 to 18 world meet in the Russian capital is 1:46.20.
“Of course, I would have loved to win the race. But with my time, even second was good enough,” said an excited Musagala who went on to win the final in a slower time of 1:47.00.
The day’s biggest upset was in the men’s 5000m where 2007 Osaka, Commonwealth and African champion Moses Kipsiro was beaten.
Kipsiro, a bronze medallist at the Osaka 2007 world championship, could not believe it as policeman Abdallah Mande sped past him to win the 12.5 lap race in 13:30.96.
Halima Nakaayi was the day’s heroine, missing out on the Moscow qualification by 0.18 seconds. She however still had reason to smile as her time was well within the World Junior Championships 800m requirement.
By James Bakama and Norman Katende, The New Vision
