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 Commonwealth Games champion Nijel Amos of Botswana also safely moved
through to Sunday's semi-finals with victory in a time of 1 minute
47.23 seconds in the first heat at the Bird's Nest Stadium.
"It was a good run, I wanted to stay out of trouble. I take each
round as it comes. It is a bit hot here but we can cope," he said.
Olympic champion Rudisha led from start to finish as he clocked a
time of 1:48.31 in the sixth and final heat which was also
surprisingly the slowest.
"I have qualified and now I am looking forward to the final," he
said of his showdown with Amos and Aman.
"I know it is going to be hard. I know my power is back. My problem
before was my finishing speed."
The diminutive Aman offered 1 min 47.87 in a physical and
competitive second heat featuring lots of jostling for position.
Earlier, Aman's compatriot Genzebe Dibaba had no such troubles
negotiating the heats of the women's 1,500m as she clocked a best
time of 4:02.59 across the three heats.
The 24-year-old world record holder took the lead at the bell and
raced clear with Faith Kipyegon of Kenya to record the fastest
women's 1500m time outside a final in world championships history.
"This is a special championships in a special city because my sister
won two golds here at this unique stadium," she said of 2008 double
Olympic champion and sibling Tirunesh.
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"So my main goal is to get two gold medals too."
The heptathlon begun with the 100 meters with young Dutchwoman
Nadine Visser clocking a personal best in winning with a time of
12.81 seconds ahead of Briton Jessica Ennis-Hill (12.91) and
Canadian Brianne Theisen Eaton.
Olympic champion Ennis-Hill, though, led after the morning session
following a seasons best 1.86 meter effort in the high jump.
Compatriot Katarina Johnson-Thompson was the only woman to clear
1.89 in the high jump as she moved into second overall ahead of
Visser.
In the hammer, Pawel Fajdek and Briton Nick Miller were the only men
to achieve the 77 meter automatic qualifying mark for Sunday's
final, while the first round of the men's 100 meters gave an
opportunity to some of the lesser names to enjoy the grand stage.
Bhutan's Tashi Dendup recording the slowest time across the three
heats of 12.15 seconds but also a national record for the Himalayan
nation.
(Writing by Patrick Johnston; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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