China's star hurdler Liu Xiang has recovered from a sprained ankle and will take part in his first international competition for this year at the Osaka leg of the IAAF World Athletics Tour starting on May 8.

Liu sprained his ankle on February 15 during a training session, which prevented him from attending the IAAF Indoor World Championships last month.

Showing up in a launch event for the 2006 IAAF Shanghai Golden Grand Prix last Friday, the Athens Olympic gold medallist said he is ready to achieve good results in major tournaments this year, such as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix and the 2006 IAAF World Cup to be held in Athens during September 16-17

"The Shanghai grand prix is held in my hometown and I will undoubtedly try my best in front of my home crowd. As for Athens, it is my lucky place and I will return there to achieve again," he said.

In Osaka, however, Liu and his coach Sun Haiping have only set their target at 13.30 seconds, as the hurdler will only resume fast-running training sessions this week.

"The number of tournaments on my schedule this season will be around 10, which is almost half of what I competed in last year," said the 23-year-old who competed in 19 tournaments last year.

"My coach and I made the decision to limit my calendar to avoid the strain that comes from competing too much, and lack of rest, which was what happened to me last year," said Liu.

Although he finished a close second behind France's Ladji Doucoure at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki last August, the sprinter was unable to repeat his Athens performance where he equalled Britain's Collin Jackson's world record of 12.91 seconds.

To explain this, coach Sun said this year is a year of adjustment for Liu. "Our top priority is the Beijing Olympics and to prepare for an event of that scale we need a long-term regime that will allow him to peak just in time for the Games."

Sun said Liu had recovered well from the injury and quickly returned to form. At least, one target seems to be clear for this year, to retain his champion status at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix this September.

"Hopefully, this year we will see a complete field of the world's best coming to Shanghai," Liu said, referring to Doucoure's absence from the inaugural meet last year. "It would be exciting to beat them in front of the home crowd."

The Shanghai Golden Grand Prix will start on September 23. Besides Liu, sprint king Justin Gatlin, the world champion in both the men's 100 and 200 metres, as well as top Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, have confirmed their attendance for the event.

(China Daily April 11, 2006)