Double Delight for Kenya As Ferdinand Omanyala, Samwel Imeta Storm to 100 Metres Semis of Commonwealth Games

• Team Kenya will have two representatives in the 100 metres semifinals of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
• African champion Ferdinand Omanyala and Samwel Imeta finished first and second in their respective heats to book their tickets
• Omanyala is eyeing to dethrone the defending champion Akani Simbine from South Africa

Africa's fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala began his hunt for the Commonwealth title emphatically by winning his heat on Tuesday afternoon.

Omanyala clocked 10.07 seconds to win the fifth heat of the first round of the 100 metres at Alexandra Stadium in Birmingham. He beat the second-placed Emmanuel Eseme using the photo-finish rule, with the Cameroonian adjudged to have used 10.08 seconds.

Omanyala is looking to put behind him his rocky performance at the World Athletics Championships, where he failed to reach the final. The African record holder had visa issues which had really hampered his preparations.

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At the same time, another Kenyan, Samwel Imeta, also qualified after finishing second in heat 9. Imeta ran a wonderful race to clock a personal best of 10.12 seconds.

The defending Commonwealth champion Akani Simbine has also qualified for the semi-finals.

Ghana's Benjamin Azamati also through to the semifinals

Sports Brief has also reported that Benjamin Azamati made light work of his rivals in heat 7 of the 100m race at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The 24-year-old finished the heat with an impressive time of 10.18s to qualify for the semi-finals.

In a video posted on social media, the runner blistered past his opponents and will now be waiting for his next race on Wednesday.

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At the same time, Sports Brief had earlier reported that the saga surrounding the delayed visa of Ferdinand Omanyala is far from over. Athletics Kenya has now released an official statement that has appeared to transfer the blame on the 100 metres sprint superstar.

Omanyala competed in the 100 metres races at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA. However, the build-up to the event was shrouded and still is shrouded in controversy.

Two days to his first race, Omanyala took to social media to bemoan his lack of a visa. He got his visa within just 24 hours to the Friday race. He arrived in Oregon less than three hours to his race and all the obstacles notwithstanding, he managed to qualify for the semifinals.