Francesca Xuereb qualifies for 400m final

Francesca Xuereb made it another fine day for Maltese athletics yesterday when booking her place in the final of the 400m at the World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Martina Xuereb was unlucky not to join her twin sister in today's final when she placed fifth in her semi-final heat, setting a new personal best in the process.

The 16-year-old Francesca Xuereb, who on Wednesday set a new national junior record of 55.10 seconds on way to sealing a berth in the semi-finals, produced another strong run to finish fourth in her heat in 55.57.

Ukraine's Yuliya Baraley was first in 54.96 ahead of Canada's Natalie Geiger (55.00) and India's Raju Poovamma Machettira (55.15).

Earlier in the day, Martina Xuereb faced a very strong field in the first semi-final. She narrowly missed out on a top-four finish and a berth in the final when crossing the line fifth in a new personal best of 55.24.

Slovakia's Alexandra Stukova won the race in a season best of 54.26. Latoya McDermott, of Jamaica, was second in 54.35 while Ukraine's Olha Zemlyak (54.59) and American Meshawn Graham (54.96) grabbed the other qualifying spots.

The result achieved in Ostrava is another remarkable feat for the Xuereb sisters. During last month's Monaco GSSE, Francesca and Martina completed a double medal success for Team Malta when placing second and third respectively in the 400m final besides winning silver and bronze in the 4x100m and the 4x400 respectively.