Olympian Deriba Merga of Ethiopia survived stiff competition to defend the men's title, while reigning world champion Mary Keitany of Kenya created a new record to be named champion in the women's category of the $210,000 Delhi Half Marathon in New Delhi on Sunday.
Haile Gebrselassie scored a hat-trick of Dubai Marathon victories on Friday but the Ethiopian's hopes of setting a new world record were dashed by a bad back. The world champion crossed the finish line in a time of 2:06:09, 14 seconds ahead of Kenya's Chala Dechase Beyene but more than two minutes slower than his record time.