Hession fails in bid for 200m final

Irish record holder Paul Hession finished sixth in his 200 metres semi-final at the World Championships in Berlin tonight, missing out on a final spot by two-tenths of a second.

Irish record holder Paul Hession finished sixth in his 200 metres semi-final at the World Championships in Berlin tonight, missing out on a final spot by two-10ths of a second.

Hession needed to finish in the top four to qualify for tomorrow night's final, but he did not have the best of bends in lane eight and was left playing catch-up down the home straight.

The Athenry ace tried valiantly to produce his trademark strong finish, with American duo Wallace Spearmon and Charles Clark and Jamaica's Steve Mullings leading the way to his left.

That trio plus Azerbaijan's Ramil Guliyev claimed the coveted qualifying places.

Spearmon took the win in 20.14 seconds and the impressive Guliyev was the final qualifier in fourth (20.28).

Hession would have had to dip under his personal best of 20.30 seconds to feature in the final - he crossed the line in 20.48.

However, the Stuart Hogg-coached sprinter can still be proud of his achievement in reaching another major semi-final, repeating his heroics from Beijing last year.