Qatar’s Samba races to stunning 400m hurdles win in Zagreb

The men’s 400m hurdles was billed as a battle between youth and experience, in the guise of 20-year-old world leader Kyron McMaster and 31-year-old Kerron Clement, the Olympic champion, at the IAAF World Challenge in Zagreb on Tuesday.But then Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba crashed the party. Clearly ahead by the fourth hurdle, himself a rising star in the event, kept form through the finish and was never threatened, clocking 48.70. McMaster was second in 49.49, 0.20 clear of South African veteran LJ Van Zyl. Clement faded badly over the final 50 metres, eventually reaching the line sixth in 50.44.Elsewhere, former world champion Yohan Blake claimed 100m victory in a time of 10.05 seconds.The second-fastest man of all-time, who finished fourth in the world championship final in London earlier this month, beat American Mike Rodgers (10.14) and his fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell (10.16) into second and third respectively.Surprise world 200m champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey had to settle for fifth in a time of 10.36 secs.Botswanan 400m runner Isaac Makwala, who was at the centre of controversy at the worlds when he was stopped from competing in the final over a health scare, suffered a surprise defeat as American Gil Roberts won in 44.94 secs.World pole vault gold medallist Sam Kendricks posted his 13th successive win with a leap of 5.60m in the absence of his main rivals, while women’s world discus champion Sandra Perkovic delighted the Croatian home crowd with a winning throw of 70.83m.