KUALA LUMPUR: Sprinter Azeem Fahmi sent a warning to his rivals at the Asian Championships after winning his men's 100m heat in Bangkok on Thursday.
The 19-year-old clocked 10.24s to top heat two at Suphachalasai Stadium to qualify for the semi-finals on Friday.
Azeem, who has a personal best of 10.09, ran a comfortable race in lane eight.
His main challenger for the gold, Ryuichiro Sakai of Japan, won heat one in 10.18.
Malaysia's Khairul Hafiz Jantan also reached the semi-finals after finishing fourth (10.46) in heat one.
In the women's 100m, Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, 30, clocked a season-best time of 11.56 to qualify for the semi-finals.