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Chinese sprinter makes history while Liu Xiang steals limelight

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Hosts China claimed a historic gold medal at Asiad on Monday as sprinter Lao Yi became the first Chinese to lift the men's 100 meters title at Asian Games, while former Olympic champion Liu Xiang breezed into the 110m hurdles final.

With the absence of Qatar's Samuel Francis, who set an Asian record of 9.99 seconds in 2007, Lao was the favorite of the race and clocked 10.24 seconds to win the title.

Francis was disqualified in the semifinals due to false start earlier Monday.

"I am very exciting," said the winner. "I did a lot of preparation before the Asian games. I had expected to break the national record, but I failed this time."

Lao didn't take the lead at first, but he made a strong sprint in the last meters to win the gold.

"I had my own rhythm," explained the 25-year-old, who was known by few before the Asiad.

Lao said he was bothered by injury in the previous two years, and he set a personal best of 10.21 at the National championships this year.

"My next goal is to get good results in next year's world championships," said Lao. "I am quite confident of myself now."

Yasir Baalghayth Alnashri of Saudi Arabia got the silver in 10.26, and Barakat Al harthi of Oman got the bronze in 10.28.

China also won the women's hammer throw gold through defending champion Zhang Wenxiu and the men's pole vault gold by Doha Asian Games bronze medallist Yang Yansheng.

China's former Olympic and world champion Liu Xiang drew limelight on Sunday as he finished first in the heat to reach the men's 110 meters hurdles final.

The 27-year-old, who was definitely the focus of all media and spectators on the track, clocked 13.48 seconds with ease. The time topped the total ranking of the two heats.

"I feel really good," said Liu, the Asian record holder whose personal best was 12.88. "I want to say thank you to the fans, and I hope I can do better in the final."

"Guangzhou is my lucky place," said Liu. "I won the Chinese National Games title in Guangzhou when I was just 18 and won the Asian championship here last year."

Liu told China's national TV that he was planning to run within 13.20 seconds in the final.

"The ranking doesn't matter to me," he said. "Only the result (time) matters."

Liu said before the Asian Games that he was still bothered by the foot injury but he was in a stable form now.

The Chinese star limped off the field of the national stadium Bird's Nest in the Beijing Olympic Games even before he started running in the first heat to defend his glory last year, leaving millions of Chinese fans dumbfounded with the blow.

Liu has been slow to recover from surgery on his Achilles tendon after the Beijing Games, only being impressive once at a September 2009 meet in Shanghai where he clocked 13.15 seconds.

Liu's seasonal best was 13.40 seconds where he finished third in the 2010 Shanghai meet.

Another famous Chinese hurdler Shi Dongpeng also qualified for the final by finishing second in heat two in 13.89, but the result could only ranked the fifth.

The 110m hurdles final will be held on Wednesday night.

Japan won their first athletics gold on Sunday by sprinter Chisato Fukushima, winner of the 2009 Asian championships, who made a strong last dash to lift the title in 11.33 seconds.

"I am really happy about my result," said the Japanese. "It's beyond my expectation."

The 34-year-old Guzel Khubbieva of Uzbekistan trailed in 11.34 to take the silver, while Vietnam's Vu Thi Huong finished third in 11.43.

Qatar also pocketed a gold on Monday by Femi Seun Ogunode, a former Nigerian, who won the men's 400m final by clocking a personal best 45.12.

Japanese Yuzo Kanemaru took the silver in a season best 45.32, while Yousef Ahmed M Masrahi of Saudi Arabia settled for the bronze in 45.71.

In the women's 400m final, defending champion Kazakhstan's Olga Tereshkova won the gold in a season best 51.97, beating Japan's Asami Chiba, bronze medallist in the event at Doha, by 0.71 second. Chiba pocketed the silver, while the bronze also went to Kazakhstan Marina Maslyonko who finished in 52.70.

Tuesday will see defending champion Liu Hong compete in the women's 20km race walk, and world champion Maryam Jamal will show her power in the women's 1500m.

The men's high jump, 1500m and 3000m steeplechase, as well as the women's long jump and discus throw will also take place on Tuesday.