No clear favorites emerged for the first round of the men's 400m, setting up an intense battle in tomorrow's sem-finals.
Heat 4 was the fastest, producing four of the first round's six sub-47 second performances. Davian Clarke of Jamaica won in 46.36, with six-time Spanish champion David Canal second in (46.67). Hungarian record holder and the 1999 European U23 champion Zsolt Szeglet was fourth in 46.94.
Two-time indoor silver medallist Milton Campbell was an easy victor in heat 1 in 47.35, with Jamaican Greg Haughton second in 47.35. Tunisian record holder Labidi Sofiane won the second heat in 46.97, a tenth ahead of Romania's 2002 European indoor bronze medallist, Vieru Ioan Lucian (47.07).
Bahamian Christopher Brown, who lowered his PB to 46.48 this season, was third in heat 2 in 47.08, and did not advance.
American newcomer Joe Mendel (47.33) won heat three from Autralian Vincent Casey AUS (47.42) while Alleyne Francique, the Commonwealth indoor record holder won the fifth heat in 46.76, overtaking Gary Kikaya with 250 metres to go. Kikaya, a former NCAA champion while at the University of Tennessee, timed 47.09.
