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Liu eases through 110m hurdles preliminary at Asian champ.

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-11 11:23

GUANGZHOU: Athens Olympic champion Liu Xiang cruised into the men's 110m hurdles final at the 18th Asian athletics championships here on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Liu, who won at the Chinese National Games in 13.34 seconds last month, took the lead from the start and finished first in the heat one race in 13.82.

The result was good enough for the "flying man" to advance to the final, but far off his former world record and personal best of 12.88.

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"I was a little worried before the race," said Sun Haiping, coach of Liu. "Because anything could happen during the race."

"The result was OK," he said. "Liu's form is good, and if someone clocks 13.60 in the final, he will finish within 13.40."

According to Sun, the Asian championships was quite important to Liu. "Only the winner here can race in next year's World Cup," he added.

Shi Dongpeng, fifth in the 2007 Worlds, clocked 13.87 in the preliminary to qualify for the final.

The men's 110m hurdles final will be held on Thursday evening, and Liu is expected to win his third straight gold at the Asian championships.