The 110m hurdles star Liu Xiang is set to draw the brightest spotlight on the track and field of the Doha Asian Games. But for China, this is not enough.

Chinese athletes will try and see off challenges from Japanese rivals and keep the top spot in Asia during the Games, set to run from December 1 to December 15.

"The goal of the track and field team is to win the most gold medals and keep China's top position in Asia," said Feng Shuyong, head coach of China's track and field team. "We are also giving chances to some young athletes and hope they will gain experience for the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

China will send a 52-member squad to participate in 37 events. However, no Chinese will compete in the men's 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, 4x400 relay, hammer and women's heptathlon events.

"In those events, China have lagged behind and it is hard for us to catch up in such a short time. Considering the limited number of athletes we can send to Doha, we must sacrifice some events in order to give more places to other promising athletes," Feng said.

Apart from Liu's dominance in the men's 110m hurdles, Chinese are also seen as strong title contenders in the triple jump and 20km race in men's events.

China have a bigger competitive edge in women's sports with chances for gold  in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, pole vault, triple jump, shot put, discus, hammer, javelin, marathon and 20m race walking.

However, no other event at the Asian Games is as likely to be dominated by one athlete as the men's 110m hurdles, where Olympic champion and world record holder Liu seems destined to lord over the rest.

Liu set a new Asian Games record in Busan in 2002 as a 19 year old, and has progressed enormously since then.

His coach Sun Haiping will not let him ease up, saying the Asian Games are only part of his winter training and the main goal is to set a new Games record.

"I think that winning a gold will not be a problem for Liu. We are going to break the record he set four years ago," Sun said.

Liu, who is also the world silver medallist, is suffering from a lack of motivation and needs to stoke his work ethic ahead of the Asiad.

"It's the end of the season, but we still have to work hard. If I have to, I will make Liu Xiang train until his head spins," his coach said.

Sun said the Asian Games presented no challenge to the Chinese superstar who set a new world record of 12.88 seconds in Lausanne in July.

"If they were to take place tomorrow, Liu Xiang would probably win in about 13.10 seconds."

This time is slow for Liu but still over two tenths of a second faster than the Games record he set when last he claimed the last Asian Games title by a wide margin.

Feng said Japan still remain the biggest opponent and will pose the greatest threat to China's goal of becoming Asia's No 1.

"According to the Asian Athletics Association, Chinese athletes are ranked 1st in 16 disciplines, while athletes from Japan grab 11 top spots," Feng said.

Japan have the upper hand in men's short-distance races, relay races, 400m hurdles and women's long-distance and marathon.

Two gold medals from women's marathon and men's hammer at the Athens Olympics as well as a silver medal from the 400m hurdles and a bronze from the men's marathon at last year's world championships demonstrate Japan's status as a powerhouse in Asia.

"Japan left out a lot of good athletes from the last Asian Games and only won two golds. But this time, Japan will send 58 world-class talents," Feng said.

Apart from Japan, Feng also singled out west Asian countries as a dominant force in mid- and long- distance races.

"By importing some talented runners from Africa, Bahrain and hosts Qatar are the title favourites in 800m, 1,500, 5000m, 10,000 and 3,000m steeplechase."

Qatar's Saif Saaeed Shaheen was the winner of the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m at September's IAAF World Cup, while Bahrain's Youssef Saad Kamel won the 800m.

Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal became the first non-Chinese Asian woman to win a World Cup event after the Ethiopian-born runner took the women's 1500m title with a Cup record 4:00.84.

(China Daily November 29, 2006)