Beijing: Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin cruised into the semi-finals of the men’s 200m at the World Championships in Beijing on Tuesday.

Just two days after their explosive 100m showdown at the Bird’s Nest in which Bolt came out victorious by just one-hundredth of a second, the Jamaican clocked 20.28 seconds to win his heat.

Bolt eased up with fully 50 metres to go after he came off the bend ahead of the field in a first successful step in his bid to retain his world sprint double.

Gatlin, who has served two doping bans and whose defeat by Bolt was heralded by some as symbolic given the doping issues in which track and field finds itself mired, dominated his heat, winning easily in 20.19sec.

Also going through will be Japanese teenager Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, the 16-year-old clocking 20.35sec behind Gatlin in an impressive first outing in the worlds. The semi-finals are scheduled for Wednesday and the final on Thursday.

Meanwhile, former 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell says he was “very disappointed” he was not among the top three finishers in the finals of the marquee event.

Powell was never in the race and eased through the final metres when it was clear he could not win, clocking 10.00 seconds.

“I am very, very disappointed because I should have been in the top three, but I just didn’t pull it off,” the Jamaican sprinter said.

“That’s how it goes, disappointments, disappointments.”

Powell was drawn in lane eight with Gatlin to his left but he was unable to see his countryman Usain Bolt in lane five during the race.

He told reporters that his race was affected by a poor start and lack of finishing power.

“I just didn’t have the legs to finish the race. I didn’t get a good start. I just need to go back and focus on getting my start back. I lost that and just didn’t have the legs to finish,” he said.

“I’ve been having a great season and expectations were very high for me at this World Championships and I didn’t pull it off tonight. It is one more disappointment added to the disappointments before. I just need to go back to the drawing board and run the full race.”

Powell, 33, has been dubbed the sub-10 king, with a personal best of 9.72.