Xiang's bad run continues in Doha

Liu Xiang's injury problems continue at the World Indoor Championships as he finishes seventh in the 60m hurdles, an event he won four years ago.

Liu Xiang's injury problems continued at the World Indoor Championships in Doha yesterday as he finished seventh in the 60m hurdles, an event he won four years ago. The Chinese athlete, who broke Chinese hearts when he memorably had to pull out of the 110m hurdles in the Beijing Olympics because of injury immediately before his first-round heat, has been hampered by an ankle injury in the two years since that heartache. And it was the Cuban Dayron Robles - who was victorious in Beijing - who also took the title yesterday ahead of the American favourite, Terrence Trammell.

The Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat won his second 3,000m title six years after the first with a stirring last lap. Lagat, 35, surged past the defending champion, Tariku Bekele of Ethiopia, with slightly more than a lap to go and won handily in 7mins 37.97secs. Spain's Sergio Sanchez took second in 7-39.55 with the Kenyan Sammy Mutahi third. Bekele faded to fourth. "My kids woke up at seven in the morning to watch their daddy," Lagat said. "So I needed to show them something."

The former double outdoor world champion thrust his right arm into the air in celebration more than 20 metres before crossing the line in his season's best time. Abubaker Kaki, of Sudan, retained his title in the men's 800 metres with a time of 1-46.23, just ahead of the Kenyan Boaz Lalang. Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown was a surprise winner of the women's 60m. The two-time Olympic 200m champion, who was also 100m world champion in 2007 but had never previously won an indoor medal, took the title with personal best time of seven seconds.

* With agencies