Asian hopes of glory at the World Athletics Championships are the worst in years, with nobody stepping up to fill the void left by heavyweights such as Liu Xiang and Koji Murofushi.
At the last championships in Osaka two years ago, Asian competitors mustered eight medals between them, with two gold — China’s Liu in the 110m hurdles and Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Jamal in the women’s 1,500m.
They could be stretched to match that in Berlin, with Liu still recovering from the Achilles injury that destroyed his Beijing Olympic dream. Although he recently started training again, his coach Sun Haiping said the defending world champion was targeting the National Games for his return in October, ahead of the Asian athletics championships in November.
PHOTO: AP
With Liu out, Chinese hopes in the event rest with his understudy Shi Dongpeng and the improving Yin Jing, although neither are expected to medal.
Women’s discus throwers Song Aimin and Ma Xuejun, and Gong Lijiao in the shot put are perhaps their best chances of success, with few other serious contenders.
Head coach Feng Shuyong said they would use the event to blood youngsters as they prepare for the London Olympics in 2012.
“It will be a fairly tough championships,” Feng said.
He said even in the marathon, where China has previously been competitive, they now have no athlete of note.
“Zhou Chunxiu and Zhu Xiaolin used to be athletes who could compete for the gold medal in the marathon, but because of their age and injuries they have lacked training and exercise in recent years,” he said.
Nevertheless, the marathon is where Asians could succeed.
Japan’s Yoko Shibui has the third fastest women’s time this year and will be hoping to better the 14th place finish she managed at the Beijing Olympics after winning in San Francisco last month.
Japan has several other marathon runners who could push for a medal, including Yoshimi Fujinaga, Yukiko Akaba and Yuri Kano.
“I’m tuning up to take top places. I hope I can win a medal or finish in the top eight,” Akaba said.
Hammer thrower Murofushi, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, is due to compete in Berlin, but looks to be past his best and is suffering from lumbago.
“I don’t expect him to be back in form this year. We’re thinking of having an operation for lumbago and a hip joint,” his father Shigenobu Murofushi said.
Another Japanese hope, the 2005 world 400m hurdles bronze medalist Dai Tamesue, is sidelined with a left knee injury.
Japan’s Masashi Eriguchi has run a wind-assisted 10.07 seconds in the 100m this year, but remains light years away from Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell.
While home-grown talent in Asia is limited, the region has plenty of imports to carry the torch, but Bahrain’s Olympic 1,500m champion Rashid Ramzi will not be one of them.
Ramzi was one of five athletes caught out by dope tests conducted in February for the new form of banned blood booster EPO-CERA and he faces being stripped of his Olympic medal and a minimum two-year suspension from all events.
Bahrain still has medal opportunities, with the US-born Latroy Williams, Chris Brown and Andrae Williams in the men’s 400m all clocking good times this year.
With Ramzi out, Belal Mansoor Ali will fly the Bahraini flag in the 1,500m. Maryam Yusuf Jamal is back to defend her women’s 1,500m title and, with the fastest time in the world this year, she starts as favorite.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
RSS