Athletics: Bahrain dominate distance races in Kobe

Bahrain secured first and second place in both the men's and women's 10,000 metres on the opening day of the Asian Athletics Championships on Thursday. Ali Hasan Mahboob defended his title, recording a time of 28min 35.49sec, while his compatriot Bilisuma Shugi Gelasa fended off a challenge from Japanese runners Akinobu Murasawa and Tsuyoshi Ugachi to take silver. Shitaye Eshete Habtegebrel, who had to be satisfied with a bronze in the Asian Games, took gold with a time of 32:47.80 in the women's 10,000m, with Kareema Jasim Saleh second and Asian Games champion Preeja Sreedharan of India third. Athletics fans at the Kobe Universiade Stadium are keenly awaiting the appearance of Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang, the former world record holder, in the 110 metres hurdles. But they faced disappointment when the championships' other box-office draw, Qatar's Francis Samuel Adelebari -- the only Asian athlete to have run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds -- withdrew from the showpiece track event in the semi-finals due to injury. China notched a one-two finish in the women's javelin, with Liu Chunhua winning in 58.05m and Wang Ping taking the silver in 55.80m. Earlier in the discus, Ehsan Hadidi of Iran won his fourth consecutive title and first gold medal of the week with a throw of 62.27m, beating India's Vikas Gowda and Wu Jian of China. Japan's Masumi Aya enjoyed her first continental title by winning the women's hammer with a mark of 67.19m, ahead of China's Liu Tingting and compatriot Yuka Murohushi. In other action, India's Mayookha Johny jumped 6.56m to win the women's long jump, beating Lu Minjia of China into second and Japan's Saeko Okayama into third, while the men's pole vault was postponed until Friday due to rain.