Record-breaking Nick Smith misses out on Doha

NICK Smith has missed out on a place in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad for next month's World Indoor Championships in Qatar despite setting a new national record at the weekend.

The Scottish sprinter thrust himself into the frame when he ran the 60 metres in 6.60 seconds at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to force his way into the selectors' plans, with Harry Aikines-Aryeetey joining Dwain Chambers in the squad that was announced yesterday.

Aikines-Aryeetey trailed Smith at the weekend but he is a former world junior 100m and 200m gold medallist and has been much more consistent that the Scot – finishing runner-up to Chambers in the trial race and posting a world class time of 6.55secs.

Chambers, who shared the 60m silver medal with Kim Collins in Valencia two years ago, is the fastest man in the world this year and will be looking to claim the gold medal at the 12-14 March championships.

Smith's compatriot, Lee McConnell, did make the cut and she is in the frame to line up in the 4x400m relay.

Defending triple jump champion Phillips Idowu heads the squad. Despite an indifferent season, Idowu is renowned for rising to the challenge at major championships. Although he finished fourth at last weekend's Aviva Grand Prix, the 31-year-old world outdoor champion managed a season's best of 17.25 metres which augurs well for Doha

Jessica Ennis missed her last two competitions with a foot injury but will be favourite for the pentathlon title if she continues the form she has displayed this season. The world heptathlon champion set eight personal bests last month and, despite the high quality of the field including Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska, looks a safe bet to add another global title to her name.

UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee knows he has a strong enough squad to better the one gold and four silver medals claimed at the last championships.

"This competition gives athletes an opportunity to gain championship experience on a global level, the endurance athletes especially have taken this chance with lots of new faces in those disciplines," Van Commenee said. "The team is slightly bigger than I would have anticipated at the start of the winter season which positively shows the depth of the pool of athletes we have.

"We have names which will make the podium if they perform to potential and there is always room for outsiders."