Indians disappoint as Dutee crashes out

India began their campaign in the World Athletics Championships on a disappointing note with sprinter Dutee Chand and quartermiler Muhammed Anas Yahiya crashing out in the first round heats.

Swapna Barman figured among the bottom heap in the seven-event heptathlon on the second day of competitions. Dutee, who got a quota entry despite failing to come up with the qualification standard, finished sixth in heat number five of the women's 100m first round after clocking a below- par 12.07secs.

The Odisha girl's performance was well below her season's best of 11.30 seconds though the track was a bit damp after light rain lashed the Olympic Stadium during the women's 100m first round and the temperature also dropped below 20 degree Celsius. She finished 38th overall among 47 athletes.

It was always going to be tough for the 21-year-old Dutee against a top class field in this global event. There was an outside chance of making it to the semifinals and her performance would disappoint all those who have been racking her career.

Dutee, who ran at lane number six, said she got nervous due to the disqualification of German athlete Tatjana Pinto, who was at the adjacent lane number five, for a false start. The Indian also had a slow start as her reaction time was 0.174 secs, the sixth worse among the seven competitors. "The girl next to me was disqualified due to a false start and I got nervous. I could not come out of the blocks as fast as I would have wanted, so the timing was poor. The temperature was also cold. I had run with better timings in India because at this time the temperature there (in India) is more suited. I need a bit of warm temperature," she said after her race.

Dutee did not touch the qualifying standard of 11.26 secs during the qualification period but later got a quota entry on the basis of her season's best of 11.30 secs as the total number of participants in the women's 100m dash did not reach the targeted 56 in that event. "I should have been told early that I may qualify for this World Championships and I would have done a better preparation. They told me at the last minute that I will get a quota entry. After the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, I did not take part in the National Inter-State Championships in Guntur as I was not well. I was not doing proper training," she said.