Zhou Zuyi/Shanghai Daily news
Local hero Liu Xiang cruised to an easy victory at the 10th National Games in
Nanjing yesterday as Shanghai climbed to seventh place in the medals
tally.
Liu timed 13.10 seconds - breaking his own previous National Games
record of 13:36 - in his specialty 110-meter hurdles last night.
He was also
a good 0.34 seconds ahead of closest rival Shi Dongpeng of Hebei
Province.
The Olympic gold medalist had a comfortable margin after the first
of the 10 hurdles and didn't leave anything to chance for the rest of the
field.
Liu's stylish win brought the 20th gold - sixth in the past three days
- for the city at the ongoing games in Jiangsu Province.
The host leads the
medals tally with a total of 53 gold medals.
Like any other domestic
competitions featuring Liu, the big race yesterday drew a full house of nearly
35,000 at Nanjing's Olympic Stadium. Fans went ballistic when the 22-year-old
sprinter turned up on the track for warm-up.
Liu's every move before and
after the 13-second dash aroused waves of screams and cheers from the stands.
Photographers and reporters also broke away from the mixed zone immediately
after the race finished, chasing Liu down on the track for pictures and
interviews.
The organizers were forced to deploy added security as the
superstar received his medal on the podium.
Liu appeared to be enjoying his
big night out, making wry faces to the camera during warm-up and saluting the
spectators after the race.
"The ambience did exert some pressure on me but
now I know how to deal with it," said Liu.
In swimming, Zhu
Yingwen, also from Shanghai, took the gold in women's 50m freestyle yesterday,
adding a fourth gold to her 100m free, 4x100m and 4x200m free titles in a time
of 24.59 seconds, according to Xinhua news agency.
"This is my second gold
after Tuesday's 100m free in an individual event and also my second out of the
three National Games I competed ... so the 10th National Games will stay deep in
my memory," said 24-year-old Zhu.
Xu Yanwei and Pang Jiaying, Zhu's teammates
in relays, both followed their rankings in the 100m free to take the second and
third places with a time of 25.26 and 25.47 seconds, respectively.
"It's a
happy night for the Shanghai delegation. Personally, I have regrets that I could
not win an individual event here," said 21-year-old Xu, who scooped four golds
medals at the last National Games.
In women's soccer,
Beijing eliminated Shanghai in a semifinal thriller to set up a final clash with
Liaoning tomorrow.
The semifinal between Beijing and Shanghai was seen by
many as the actual final. The two teams were well-matched in the clash until the
deadlock was broken in the 70th minute when midfielder Pan Lina scored for
Shanghai with a long drive. But Chen Yanhong got the equalizer for Beijing soon
after.
In the 90th minute, midfielder Liu Ying scored again for Beijing. But
Pu Wei notched the leveler for Shanghai in injury time as the match finished 2-2
in regular time.
In the shootout, Beijing overwhelmed Shanghai 5-4.
In
the other semifinal, Liaoning defeated host Jiangsu 1-0.
Elsewhere,
Shanghai's Qian Zhenhua defended his crown in the men's pentathlon final. His
teammate Cao Zhongrong finished second while Li Lin of Hubei took the
bronze.