Hosts China wins four athletic golds, Asian champ Ogunode sets 100m new CR

Hosts China claimed four gold medals on the first day of the Asian Athletics Championships here on Wednesday, while Qatar's reigning Asian champion Femi Ogunode renewed the competition record in the semifinal of men's 100m.

Ogunode timed 9.97 seconds in the men's 100m semis earlier Wednesday, while China's Zhang Peimeng, who has been struggling for form this season, also qualified for the final with a 10.29-second finish. The final will be held on Thursday.

China's Xie Wenjun, who is under guidance of Liu Xiang's coach Sun Haiping, clocked 13.56 seconds to win the men's 110m hurdles. Kuwait's Abdulaziz Almandeel finished second in 13.67, while South Korean Kim Byoungjun was third in 13.75. China's Jiang Fan came fifth in 13.85.

"I am still in jet lag and I almost fell asleep in the afternoon," said Xie. "I went to bed at eight last night and the heat was Ok, but I felt so tired in the final."

"My results were not good in the year and I need to do something about it," he added.

China also won the women's 100m hurdles as Wu Shuijiao dominated the race in 13.12 seconds. Kazakhstan's Anastassiya Pilipenko took second in 13.33, and Japan's Kimura Ayako third in 13.41.

"I felt Ok, neither too good nor too bad," said Wu, 24. "I need to improve my start and latter half."

"My 1.60m height was a disadvantage, so I have to make it up with other qualities," she added. "I hope I can set a new personal best at the Worlds."

China made an one-two finish in the women's hammer throw as Liu Tingting won the gold in 68.24 meters and Luo Na threw 64.97 meters to take the silver. Japan's Watanabe Akane finished third with 59.39 meters.

China's Lu Minjia claimed the women's long jump with 6.52 meters, while the silver went to South Korean Jung Soonok and the bronze was taken by Chinese Xu Xiaoling.

In the women's high jump, China's Wang Yang and Zheng Xingjuan were outshone by Uzbekistan's Svetlana Radzivil, who won the gold in 1.91 meters, and in the women's 1,500m, China's Zhao Jing followed UAE's Betlhayneh Deslagnlegn to take a silver. Deslagnlegn topped the race in 4:29.39, while Zhao finished in 4:29.40.

In the men's 1,500m, Qatar's Mohamad Algarni stuck to his plan and won the race in 3:41.42, while Bahrain's Mohammed Tiouali and Belal Ali came second and third respectively.

"My plan was just following the guys and wait for the last 300m," said the winner.

India also claimed a gold medal as Singh Inderjeet won the men's shot put with 20.41 meters. Chinese Taipei's Zhang Ming-Huang and China's Tian Zizhong ranked second and third with 19.56 and 19.25 meters respectively.

The Asian Athletics Championships runs from June 3 to 7 with a total of some 900 athletes competing in 42 events. Endi