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Another record as Liu glides to victory
21/10/2005 8:36

Zhou Zuyi/Shanghai Daily news

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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.