Liu Xiang breaks Games record to win 110m hurdles

DOHA, Dec 12 (Reuters) China's Liu Xiang rode a wave of expectation to win gold in the 110m hurdles in an Asian Games record time of 13.15 seconds today.

The Olympic champion, who is in winter training and had not expected to come close to the world record of 12.88 he set in Lausanne in July, still managed to better the 13.27 he ran to win the event at the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan.

Liu is one of the few genuinely world class athletes at the Games, but he ran in front of largely empty stands on another chilly afternoon at the 50,000-seater Khalifa Stadium.

His compatriot Shi Dongpeng grabbed silver in 13.28, while Japan's Masato Naito came home third in 13.60.

Reuters SAM GC1929