Turning to sports China’s Liu Xiang began his new season and Olympic year by beating arch-rival Dayron Robles of Cuba to win the men's 60-meter hurdles final at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.

Liu, the Athens Olympic champion ran a new personal best time of 7-point-4-1 seconds improving on his previous fastest time by 0-point-0-1 seconds.

Robles claimed the silver in 7-point-5-0 and Dexter Faulk of the US took the bronze in 7-point-5-4 seconds. The 28-year-old Chinese now holds an 8 to 5 advantage over Robles in head-to-head meetings. The victory is not only a good start for his new season but also bodes well for his outdoor season which this year includes the London Olympics.

Liu's coach Sun Hai-pin says if Liu could run under 7-point-5-0 in the indoor event then the former world-record holder is capable of running sub-13 seconds in the 110 meter event.

Saturday’s victory raises optimism that Liu is in a good position to lower his personal best time of 12-point-8-8 seconds and to claim the gold at this year’s Olympics.