Liu Xiang - the first male gold medallist for China (© Getty Images)
The biggest star of Chinese athletics, Olympic 110m Hurdles champion and joint World record holder, Liu Xiang, was in the spotlight again in the China vs. Japan international indoor match in Tianjin, China, yesterday, Tuesday 1 March.
Following his disqualification for a false start in his first indoor meeting of the season in Shanghai ten days ago, Liu Xiang was surrounded by the media while training ahead of yesterday’s Tianjin meeting but he coped with the media pressure well on the eve of the meet answering questions in a relaxed manner.
In the competition itself Liu Xiang crushed his opponents, winning by a huge margin of 0.38 seconds. His winning time of 7.50 was his third best ever, only the semi-final and final at last year’s Budapest World Indoor Championships were faster. The second best Chinese hurdler these days, 21-year-old Shi Dongpeng, who also competed in Budapest and Athens Olympics, was a distant second finishing in 7.88.
With the time Liu Xiang takes equal third place alongside Stanislav Olijar (LAT) in the World season indoor lists behind Ladji Doucoure (FRA 7.43 world leader) and Allen Johnson (USA 7.49).
The field events only included four attempts in the Tianjin meeting but despite this restriction some good results were achieved.
In the men's Triple Jump, the two best Chinese both having surpassed 17m outdoors last season, clashed for the first time this year. 19-year-old Gu Junjie (17.23 Asian junior record last season) broke Zou Sixin's nine-year-old national indoor record (16.93) with his second jump of 16.96m. Reigning national champion, 20-year-old Li Yanxi, was second with 16.63m.
In the men's Shot Put, Zhang Qi reached a big new personal best of 19.40m, just 15 centimetres from the national indoor record. Zhang is only 20 years old and had a best of 18.95m outdoors last season.
In the women's 200m Ni Xiaoli had another near miss at the national indoor record of 23.73 held by Yan Jiankui. Her winning time of 23.76 is only 0.03 from the record. But the 400m race was the tightest race of the day, Tang Xiaoyin just edged Japan’s Asami Tanno with both runners finishing with a time of 53.64, a national indoor record for the Japanese.
A new national indoor record was created in the women's 800m as well, with 18-year-old Liu Qing winning with a time of 2:02.90. Wang Yuanping, who held the previous record with her 2:03.41 from last season, was second at 2:04.33.
In the women's Pole Vault, all the recent traveling around the European circuit proved to be too much for the new vault star Zhao Yingying. The 19-year-old, who equalled Gao Shuying's Asian Indoor record with 4.45m in Madrid last week, was left with three failures at her opening height of 4.20m. Zhao's mark in Madrid was only two centimetres below Yelena Isinbayeva's (RUS) World Junior indoor best of 4.47m in 2001 and only one cm below the Russian's outdoor mark of 4.46m during the same year. Ikuko Nishikori (JPN) won the Pole Vault with 4.10m.
Li Meiju, the best Chinese women’s shot putter during the past few season's improved her 2005 best to 18.39m. The 24-year-old Li was sixth in the 2004 World Indoor Championships.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
RESULTS
China vs. Japan international indoor match and Asian international meeting
Tianjin, China, 1 March 2005
Match (men and women together) - China 154 Japan 73
All Chinese, if not mentioned
Men
60m: 1 Shen Yunbao 6.84.
200m, race 1: 1 Vyacheslav Muravyov KAZ 21.54, race 2: 1 Liu Haitao 21.58.
400m: 1 Yuki Yamaguchi JPN 47.45; 2 Wang Liangyu 47.93.
800m, race 1: Ehsan Mohajer Shojaei IRI 1:49.55, race 2: 1 Li Guangming 1:49.83.
1500m: 1 Yasutoshi Tago JPN 3:47.77.
60m Hurdles: Liu Xiang 7.50; 2 Shi Dongpeng 7.88.
High Jump: 1 Hu Tong 2.18.
Triple Jump: 1 Gu Junjie 16.96 NR; 2 Li Yanxi 16.63.
Shot: 1 Zhang Qi 19.40.
4x400 m: 1 Japan 3:14.76; 2 China 3:16.13.
Women
200m, race 1: 1 Guzel Khubbieva UZB 23.97, race 2: 1 Ni Xiaoli 23.76.
400m: 1 Tang Xiaoyin 53.64; 2 Asami Tanno JPN 53.64.
800m: 1 Liu Qing 2:02.90 NR NJR; 2 Wang Yuanping 2:04.33; 3 Miki Nishimura 2:05.52.
60m Hurdles: 1 Su Yiping 8.16; 2 Mami Ishino 8.36.
High Jump: 1 Jing Xuezhu 1.85; 2 Svetlana Radzivil UZB 1.85.
Pole Vault: 1 Ikuko Nishikori 4.10.
Triple Jump: 1 Huang Qiuyan 13.89; 2 Xie Limei 13.66; 3 Anastasiya Zhuravlyeva 13.62.
Shot: 1 Li Meiju 18.39.
4x400 m: 1 China 3:40.46.
