Shajar Abbas of Pakistan has qualified for the Men’s 200m final at the Commonwealth Games.

Pakistan’s sprinter Shajar Abbas made history on Friday when he qualified for the final of the 200m race at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Shajar finished third in the semi-final-1 event with a time of 20.89. Shajar’s qualifying was contingent on the timing of other athletes after he was unable to qualify directly from the heat results.

The top two players from each of the three semi-final races, as well as the two best timers, had to qualify for the final race, according to the rules. No racer other than the top two in race-2 could surpass Shajar’s timing to keep Pakistani athletes’ hopes alive.

In race 3, Eswatini’s Sibusiso Matsenjwa finished third in 20.81 seconds, and Kenya’s Mike Mokamba Nyangau finished fourth in 20.90 seconds, 0.01 seconds behind Shajar Abbas.Shajar qualified for the final of the 200m race, which will be conducted on Saturday night, by finishing in the top eight. Shajar is the lone Asian athlete in the 200m final.