Cape Town - It was an anxious wait for Luxolo Adams, but there was relief for the South African sprinter at the end of the 200m semi-finals at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning SA time).
The 25-year-old from Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape faced a tough field in his semi-final, where he was up against American favourites Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek, as well as Jereem Richards from Trinidad and Tobago.
Defending champion Lyles, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Monday, showed his class once more to clock the quickest time across the three semi-finals as he won his race in 19.62 seconds.
Bednarek claimed second in 19.84, while Richards was third in a quick 19.86.
Adams couldn't quite match that trio, but kept going to the end to take fourth place in 20.09.
And it all worked out well at the Hayward Field stadium... Adams advanced to the final by just one-hundreth of a second, edging out Italian Filippo Tortu, who finished on 20.10, as a 'fastest loser'.
The other SA athlete, 20-year-old national champion Sinesipho Dambile, fell out of contention after ending fifth in the first semi-final in 20.47.
American 100m world champion Fred Kerley bombed out by finishing fifth behind Dambile in 20.68, and appeared to have sustained an injury as he limped off the track.
Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic took the honours in 19.91, with Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia taking the second automatic qualifying spot in 19.92.
Teenage sensation Erriyon Knighton also laid down a marker as a medal contender as he produced a strong time of 19.77 to win the third semi-final, ahead of Canada's Aaron Brown (20.10).
Adams has the toughest draw in lane one for the final, which takes place on Thursday night (Friday 4.50am SA time), with Lyles in lane six and Kerriyon surprisingly in the tight lane three.
But as Olympic swimming champion Tatjana Schoenmaker always says, if you have a lane, you have a chance. So, if Adams equals or improves on his personal best of 19.82, which he set just last month, he will be in contention for a medal.
The other South Africans in action during the Tuesday evening session were Zeney van der Walt and Taylon Bieldt in the women's 400m hurdles heats.
Van der Walt managed to advance to the semi-finals with an excellent time of 55.05, just behind Dutch star Femke Bol, who won the heat in 53.90, which was the fastest time overall.
Bieldt, though, had to settle for sixth place in her heat with 56.67, while American favourite and Olympic champion Sydneh McLaughlin cruised to a 53.95 win in her heat.
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