China's NBA star center Yao Ming urged fans and reporters to give his fellow Shanghai native hurdler Liu Xiang time and space to recover after the foot surgery.

"It's good news, I hope we can give him more time to recover... especially when fans are all expecting him to get the championship back in 2012," Yao said, according to the Web portal Sina.com.

The former Olympic champion has successfully undergone foot surgery in a US hospital to repair the injury that forced him out of the Beijing Olympics, media reports said Monday.

The nearly three-hour operation took place Friday at the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Centre in Houston, Texas, according to the reports posted on the official website of the Chinese Athletic Association.

"We felt he did very well through the surgery," surgeon Tom Clanton, who has also treated Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming, was quoted as saying in the English-language China Daily.

"His prognosis for running in the future is quite good."

Liu's coach, Sun Haiping, said the 25-year-old would be on crutches for a few weeks and will undergo physical therapy in the United States.

"After the surgery Liu will need a couple of months in the United States to recover while a full recovery will take half a year," Sun was quoted as saying on the CAA's website.

Clanton said the operation took longer than originally planned after surgeons discovered an unexpected fourth calcium deposit on Liu's right Achilles tendon, but Liu was expected to make a full recovery.

The doctor said Liu was very composed when he regained consciousness, and even told some jokes.

He was accompanied to the US by his mother, coaches and a fellow Chinese hurdler.

"I'm feeling good," Liu said when he was asked to comment on the process.

Liu was a favourite to defend his Olympic gold medal in the 110m hurdles at the Beijing Games in August, but he dramatically pulled out after limping through the start of his first heat.

Initially, Liu's coaches voiced concerns that an operation on his Achilles tendon could lead to permanent damage and opted for a more cautious approach involving massage and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. But after a trip to the US to meet with six medical experts, Liu's team changed their mind and chose surgery as the best option for a full and speedy? recovery.

(Agencies via China Daily December 10, 2008)