Liu Xiang takes center stage, Liu Hong crowned in women's 20km walk

JINAN, East China, Oct. 24 -- Star hurdler Liu Xiang came to spotlight on Saturday night as the Athens Olympic champion easily cruised into the 110m finals at the 11th Chinese National Games.

The 26-year-old Liu, who finished second at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix last month, exploded out of starting blocks and took the lead along with Ji Wei in the last three hurdles.

Liu slowed down before hitting the line and finished in 13.75.

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

"It was just an ordinary match, and everything went all right," Liu said shortly after the race.

In the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix last month, Liu finished second in a wind-aided 13.15 seconds.

Liu's national teammates Shi Dongpeng and Xie Wenjun topped the other two groups in 13.84 and 13.79 seconds, respectively. They both qualified for the finals on Sunday night.

Elsewhere, women's 20km walk in the morning produced the world's top level results.

Liu Hong, bronze medalist at the Berlin World Championships, first barged into the stadium to give Guangdong delegation a gold.

Her winning time -- one hour and 28 minutes 11 seconds -- is already among the world's best. With two more seconds fall, she can equal the Olympic champion and Russian world title holder Olga Kaniskinaset's 1:28:09 in Berlin.

In August's championships, the 22-year-old Liu finally took the bronze with 1:29:10 in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. It was the first walk medal for Chinese women in 10 years since Liu Hongyu and Wang Yan finished 1-2 in the Seville World Championships in 1999.

Liu's personal best was 1:27.17 set in Beijing Olympics when she disappointedly finished fourth to miss a elusive medal.

Following Liu, Li Yanfei of Shandong finished second in 1:28.57,and Jiangsu's Bai Yanmin stood third in 1:29.17. Both are also among the world's leading results.

The other two golds of the day went to Anhui's Wu Sha in the women's pole vault with 4.40 meters, and Shandong's Li Shaojie in the men's discus throw with 60.39 meters. Both results are far away from the world's top level.