Mahboob Ali Hasan Mahbood pulled ahead of Bilsuma Gelassa on the last lap yesterday to win the men's 10,000 meters on the opening day of the Asian athletics championships in Kobe, Japan.

The two Bahrainis went into the last lap in a dead heat but Mahbood surged ahead with half a lap to go and crossed the finish line at Kobe Universiade Stadium in 28 minutes, 35.49 seconds.

"It was very tough to get a good time in the rain and humidity," said Mahbood, who won the bronze medal at last year's Asian Games Guangzhou. "I tried to get a better time but I am still happy with this win."

Gelassa, the gold medalist at the Asian Games, finished in 28:36.30 while Akinobu Murasawa of Japan was third in 28:40.63.

In the women's javelin, Liu Chunhua of China won with a throw of 58.05 meters. Chinese teammate Wang Ping was second with a throw of 55.80, while Yuka Sato of Japan finished third with 54.16.

About 500 athletes from 45 countries are taking part in the July 7-10 meet.

In the women's 10,000, Asian Games bronze medalist Shitaya Eshete Habtegebrel of Bahrain beat teammate Kareema Jasim Saleh with a time of 32:47.80.

Saleh finished in 32:50.70 to finish second while Preeja Sreedharan if India was third in 33:15.55.

In other events, Ehsan Hadadi of Iran won the men's discus to capture his fourth consecutive title in the event. Hadadi, a two-time Asian Games champion, had a throw of 62.27 meters to edge V.G. Shive Gowda on India by 69 centimeters.

Wu Jian of China was third after a throw of 56.61 meters.

Hadadi holds the Asian record of 69.32 but had difficulty matching that in the heavy rain. Rain forced the postponement of the men's pole vault, which will be held today.

Masumi Aya of Japan won the women's hammer throw with 67.19 meters to finish ahead of Liu Tingting of China, who had a throw of 65.42. Yuka Murofushi of Japan finished third with 62.50.

Mayookha Johny if India won the women's long jump with a leap of 6.56 meters, just .04 ahead of Lu Minjia of China.

Saeko Okayama of Japan was third with a jump of 6.51 meters.