USA's Bernard Lagat and Ethiopia's Tariku Bekele compete in the 3,000m heat in Doha (© Getty Images)
Amid a cacophony of noise created by the football-style chants from an army of Ethiopian supporters, the Aspire Dome was treated to two Qatari qualifiers for Sunday's Final.
In heat one Kenya's Augustine Choge created his own slice of history by recording the fastest ever winning time in a 3000m heat at the World Indoor Championships, stopping the clock in an impressive 7:43.80.
Following the Commonwealth 5000m champion home was Dejan Gebremeskel in a personal best of 7:44.20 much to the delight of the watching Ethiopians with Spain's European record holder Sergio Sanchez third in 7:44.33. James Kwalia, the home favourite, was the first Qatari to advance, taking the fourth and final automatic qualification spot in a personal best of 7:44.61.
The groundwork had been laid by Sanchez, who set a strong pace from the gun and hit 1km in 2:35.23. However, the Spaniard became frustrated at the lack of help he was receiving at the head of the field and swung out wide with nine-and-a-half laps remaining to let Tareq Mubarak Taher of Bahrain take the pace.
Sanchez, though, sprinted back to the head of the field with six laps to go closely tracked by Choge and Gebremeskel.
With the atmosphere building inside the arena Choge kicked to the front with 350m remaining and held a clear 5m lead at the bell with Sanchez, Gebremeskel and Kwalia in pursuit.
Choge, however, would not be denied to take his record-breaking heat win with Gebremeskel outsprinting Sanchez in the race for second with Kwalia settling for fourth.
Also advancing as fast losers from heat one were Hais Welday, who set an Eriteran record of 7:45.77, and Hicham Bellani of Morocco (7:50.46).
The first five in this heat also ran quicker than the previous fastest heat time at a World Indoor Championship 3000m heat of 7:47.50 set by Luke Kipkosgei in 2003.
The main protagonists all qualified from a much slower heat two taken by the 2004 gold medallist Bernard Lagat (7:59.99) of the USA ahead of the defending champion Tariku Bekele of Ethiopia (8:00.29). Kenya's Sammy Mutahi (8:00.53) and Spain's Jesus Espana (8:00.65) also qualified for the final, taking the third and fourth automatic places
Meanwhile, close behind, Galen Rupp of the USA (8:00.90) and Qatar's Essa Ismail Rashed (8:01.08) also progressed as fastest losers.
Heat two was a much more sedate affair with the first kilometre covered in a relatively modest 2:46.14 as Espana, the European 5000m champion, and Great Britain's Scott Overall shared the pace.
The second 1000m segement of the race was a slightly scruffy, tactical battle as the field bunched up, although the home fans roared their approval when Rashed, the 2005 Asian 10,000m champion, hit the front for a spell.
At the bell Rashed was one of half a dozen athletes still in qualification contention but Lagat and Bekele showed superior pace in the latter stages with the former clinching the heat win.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
