By Neil Silver, PA Sport, Paris

Rob Newton maintained his impressive form this season by storming into the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles.

The 22-year-old Notts AC hurdler finished second in the third of the five heats in the Stade de France, although his time of 13.62 seconds was the same as the winner.

Newton, who last month set a personal best time of 13.36secs at Loughborough, had been up against European number one Stanislavs Olijars in that heat, but the Latvian pulled up after the second hurdle.

On the sixth day of these World Championships, American Allen Johnson sent out a strong message in his bid for a fourth world title by winning his heat in 13.42.

Johnson - the only man in the field to have run below 13 seconds - saw his chances of claiming gold improved when Olijars crashed out. Cuba's Olympic champion Anier Garcia had already been ruled out with a thigh injury.

The sprint hurdles has always been a favourite event for Britain in the past with the likes of Colin Jackson and Tony Jarrett vying for medals, but with those two great athletes retired it is left to Newton to fly the flag.

Newton had to recover in his heat after being put off by the surprise collapse of Olijars, who was in the lane outside of him. However, after qualifying automatically he now believes he can continue on to the final.

"What happened to Olijars put me off a bit but I managed to get back into my stride," said Newton. "I wasn't nervous out there, I just fed off the crowd.

"At the start of the year I would never have thought I'd be in these world championships but now I think I can get to the final. I'm sure I can beat my personal best but whatever happens here it will be a great experience for next year."