Athletics-Powell saunters into 100m semi-finals

MELBOURNE, Mar 19 (Reuters) World record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica eased into the 100 metres semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games today.

Powell strolled to victory in his opening heat in 10.53 seconds and looked almost as comfortable in winning his second- round heat in 10.29.

Uchenna Emedolu of Nigeria was the fastest qualifier in 10.15, 0.06 seconds quicker than England's Marlon Devonish.

Among Powell's likely challengers, Jamaican Michael Frater, England's Mark Lewis-Francis, Aziz Zakari of Ghana and Marc Burns of Trinidad&Tobago qualified easily.

But Darrel Brown of Trinidad&Tobago failed to reach the semi-finals after finishing sixth behind Powell in his second-round heat.

REUTERS PM RK1030