Osaka: Joseph Abraham warmed Indian hearts when he qualified for the 400m hurdles semi-finals at the World Athletic Championships in Osaka on Saturday.

Abraham clocked 49.64 seconds to finish sixth in heat 5, which was good enough to advance to the penultimate round. The first four finishers in each heat and the fastest four out of the rest made it to the semi-finals and Abraham got through from the latter category.

However, Renjith Maheswary, who has been enjoying a stellar season this year, failed to make it to the triple jump finals with a disappointing 16.38m.

The Kerala athlete had set a national record of 17.04m in Guwahati earlier this year but failed to reach those heights in Osaka.

Shot putter Navpreet Singh was eliminated in the qualification round.

Heptathlete Carolina Kluft of Sweden recorded personal bests in the hurdles and high jump and Luke Kibet became the first Kenyan man to win the world marathon title in 20 years. (Agencies)