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Chinese stars dominate Asian Champs in Guangzhou
Liu Xiang, Gong Lijiao and Bai Xue were among the gold medallists who triumphed on home soil
Asian Championships, Guangzhou, November 10-14
LIU XIANG continued his recovery from Achilles tendon surgery to take the 110m hurdles gold medal in front of 30,000 spectators on home soil. In cold and wet conditions, Liu eased up before the line in order to prevent injury but the former Olympic champion and world record-holder was still the commanding winner, clocking 13.50 to defeat his compatriot and the Chinese No.2 Shi Dongpeng, second in 13.67.
In a championships dominated by the home nation, other noteworthy victories came from Zhang Wenxiu, who won the hammer with a best throw of 72.07m while world bronze medallist and recently crowned Chinese National Games champion Gong Lijiao won the shot put with her first round putt of 19.04m. In a high quality discus competition, Song Aimin took the victory with a best throw of 63.90m to defeat Ma Xuejun by 27cm.
World marathon champion Bai Xue was the convincing winner of a tactical 10,000m. The 20-year-old pulled clear in the final 800m to win the gold medal in 34:11.14.
Li Jinzhe won the long jump with 8.16m and in the 20km walk, Li Jianbo took the gold medal in 1:22:55.
Asian record-holder Olga Rypakova withdrew from the long jump at the last minute but the Olympic fourth placer showed her class in the triple jump. The Kazakh, who has made the last two world finals, took the gold medal in a season’s best of 14.53m.
Iran’s Ehsan Hadadi made a strong return to competitive action, winning the discus with a throw of 64.83m while Japan’s Yukifumi Murakami won the javelin with a fourth round throw of 81.50m.
Chisato Fukushima was the emphatic winner of the 100m as the Japanese sped to victory in 11.27 despite the hindrance of a strong headwind of 1.0 m/s.
Bahrain did not field their strongest squad for this event but Tareq Mubarak Taher was one of a small number of high-class athletes to make the trip to Guangzhou and the former Kenyan comfortably won the 3000m steeplechase in 8:33.58.
China topped the medal table with 18 gold, 19 silver and 10 bronze medals, placing ahead of Japan’s tally of 12 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals.
The next edition of the Asian Championships will be held in Kobe, July 2011.
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