World Record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba pulls up with an injury in the men's 110m Hurdles semi-final in Berlin (© Getty Images)
After the somewhat baffling first round, normal service resumed in the men's 110m hurdles as the big guns all safely made it through to tonight's final. All apart from Dayron Robles, that is.
The World record-holder sustained an injury a few days prior to Berlin and looked out of sorts in the heats, just scraping through to the semis.
Lining up in the third heat, Robles' start looked slightly more promising than yesterday, but he hit the first and second hurdles and pulled up soon after, succumbing to the pain.
After Robles' withdrawal, Will Sharman stepped up to become a surprise winner of the third semi final with a PB of 13.38. The Briton had just enough time to celebrate before crossing the line, while Jamaica's Maurice Wignall in second place (13.43) qualified for his fifth successive global championships final.
Hungary's Daniel Kiss, who sped to a huge PB of 13.34 in the heats, was unable to replicate that and finished third with 13.45 - still his second best ever time, but just not good enough to advance. Shamar Sands of the Bahamas also found that his time (13.47) was not quite enough.
The remaining two US hurdlers meanwhile, Terrence Trammell and David Payne, looked much better than they did in the heats. Trammell was a clear winner of the first semi final with a 13.24 clocking. Petr Svoboda of the Czech Republic chased him hard and was rewarded with a 13.33 season's best and a place in the final.
China's Ji Wei snuck through as a fastest loser in third with 13.41, while Olympic finalist Artur Noga of Poland missed out with 13.43. Paulo Villar of Colombia was fifth (13.44) and European champion Stanislav Olijar was sixth (13.50).
Payne was in the second semi and clocked an identical time to Trammell. However, it was only good enough for second place as Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados broke his own national record with a time of 13.18. The former World Youth silver medallist looks on course for at least a top-three finish, if not better.
Dwight Thomas was third behind Payne with a time of 13.37 and will join his Jamaican team-mate in the final. Shi Dongpeng of China missed out however with his 13.42, ahead of Dutchman Gregory Sedoc (13.45) and two PB-setters - Maksim Lynsha of Belarus (13.46) and Dmitriy Bascou of France (13.49).
After being a runaway winner of both his heat and semi-final, all eyes are now on 21-year-old Brathwaite to see if he can handle the pressure of being an unlikely favourite. But Trammell and Payne are not multi-global medallists for no reason and appear to be improving round by round in their quest to win their first World title.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
