Mark English and Thomas Barr have qualified for the 800m and 400m hurdles semi-finals respectively at the IAAF World Championships.
English said he was "delighted" to qualify for his first global semi-final in Beijing this morning.
English finished fifth in his heat, but qualified as a fastest loser in 1:46.69. Bosnia's Amel Tuka won the heat in 1:46.12.
"I’m through and I can look forward to tomorrow," said the UCD athlete afterwards, who was knocked out at this stage in Moscow in 2013. "I knew if I got boxed in and was sitting any further back than fourth I’d leave myself too much work to do like two years ago so I wanted to have no regrets. "
English will compete in the third semi-final tomorrow at 13:31 Irish time. The first two in each semi-final qualify automatically to the final along with two fastest losers.
Barr finished third in his 400m hurdles heat in 49.20, which qualified him automatically for the semis.
Barr finished strongly to grab third place behind Turkey's Yasmiani Copello Escobar and Rasmus Maegi of Estonia.
Former world champion Bershawn Jackson could only manage to finish seventh in the same heat.
The Waterford athlete will go in the semi-finals tomorrow at 11:40.
Barr (Ferrybank) was effectively running blind on the outside in lane 9 and came through well to finish third behind Turkey's Yasmani Copello who won in a new national record of 48.89 seconds.
"It was tough to gauge," said Barr on running in the outside lane. "I was running my own race out there, hopefully I might be in an inside lane tomorrow. In lane nine I had no idea where anyone was except for the Turkish guy (Copello). I had to do so much work down the home straight but I'm glad I had that kick. There were parts of that race I wasn't happy about and I know my coach (Hayley Harrison) will have noticed. I’m glad I have something to work on for tomorrow I’m happy, this is my first world championships and I’ve made it to the semi-final.
"I felt good, my body felt good, not too tired, a lot better now than I was two or three weeks ago. Technically it was not ideal. I was really excited yesterday. All week I've been itching to go. I've been so excited to get going and show what I had. I didn’t do it today, hopefully I can do it tomorrow.
"I was nervous getting into the blocks. I think it’ll take low-48 to make the final, definitely, considering what was run today. I’m going to have to run a pb to make this final. I think I do have it in me. I’m going to have to run the race of my life and if it all comes together I could be in the final."
Unfortunately he has been drawn in lane 9 for the first semi-final but it's still well within his compass to deliver.
Meanwhile, Britain's Mo Farah stormed down the final straight to retain his 10,000m world title in some style and extend his dominance of men's distance running at major championships.
Bumped by one of his rivals as he took the first bend after the bell, the 32-year-old regained his composure to cross the line in 27.01.13.
Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor was outpaced over the final 100m but finished second in 27.01.76 to claim silver, while his compatriot Paul Tanui was a distant third in 27.32.34.
Reigning Olympic and world 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion Farah has now won six straight distance titles at major championships going back to his second place in the longer event at the 2011 world championships in Daegu.
Bolt and Gatlin progress in 100m heats
World record holder Usain Bolt also progressed from his heat in the 100m, easing home to win the seventh heat in 9.96.
Justin Gatlin was the fastest qualifier in 9.83, while Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay also progressed.
