Josh Kerr is bracing for a “real battle” to defend his world 1500 metres title after qualifying second from his semi-final behind 20-year-old Dutch upstart Niels Laros.

The Scot led for almost the entirety of the first heat in Tokyo but was beaten after a physical finish, which ended with Laros crossing three hundredths of a second quicker in three minutes 35.50 seconds.

Jake Wightman, the 2022 gold medallist, qualified from the same heat third in 3:35.56, and Neil Gourley scraped through the second semi in 3:36.93 to make it a trio of Scots in Wednesday’s final, on a night at the Japan National Stadium that also saw Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis set another new pole vault world record of 6.30 metres.

“I have my work cut out for me, but I feel pretty confident,” said Kerr.

“We’re getting pl

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