WINCHESTER medal hope Kieran Showler-Davis has returned home empty-handed from the World Junior Championships in Canada. The 18-year-old Peter Symonds College pupil travelled to Moncton to compete in the individual 200 metres and 4x100m relay, but suffered bitter disappointment in both events.

Showler-Davis, a member of the Basingstoke & Mid Hants club, just about squeezed through to the 200m semi-finals by finishing third in his heat in 21.38 seconds.

Needing to finish in the top two to be sure of a place in the final, he got off to a good start but faded away to sixth in 21.18 – way outside his personal best of 20.75 which would have won him the semi-final.

And to really leave him wondering what might have been, only the eventual gold medallist, Japan’s Shota Iizuka, went inside Showler-Davis’s pb in the final, winning in 20.67.

Afterwards the South Wonston-based youngster admitted: “I don’t know what went wrong. I’m so disappointed.”

Showler-Davis was rested for the heats of the relay and watched from the sidelines as his teammates qualified eighth fastest for the final in 40.07.

He was brought in to anchor the team home in the final but, disastrously, never got to run as Jordan Huggins and Daniel Talbot failed to complete the first changeover. It meant Great Britain and North Ireland failed to finish.

There was frustration too for another of the county’s athletes, Isobel Pooley of Aldershot, Farnham & District, who finished outside the qualifying places in the women’s high jump.

The Farnborough 6th student, who won English Schools’ gold for Hampshire, cleared 1.78 metres but went out on countback and failed to reach the final.

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