OSAKA, Japan - China and Japan spearhead Asian hopes at the World Athletics Championships with Liu Xiang and Koji Murofushi looking to get their hands on gold medals for a pre-Olympic boost.

World 110m hurdles record holder Liu Xiang (top) and this year's London Marathon winner Zhou Chunxiu both of China are looking to get their hands on gold medals at the World Athletics Championships starting at the weekend in Osaka. [Xinhua/Reuters]While home-grown talent in Asia is limited, the region has plenty of imports to carry the torch, with top African runners like Youssef Saad Kamel and Rashid Ramzi now competing for Bahrain.

Those aside and Liu, the reigning Olympic 110m hurdles champion and world record holder, is the star of the show.

He narrowly missed out on gold at the last worlds in Helsinki in 2005, with France's Ladji Doucoure pipping him to the post with American Allen Johnson third, but he is fired up to put that disappointment behind him next week.

"Right now my fighting spirit and my confidence are so strong, I am very confident going into the World Championships," he told Chinese media recently.

While victory is Liu's ultimate goal, he will be keeping an eye on his Chinese friend and teammate Shi Dongpeng, who has taken giant strides to be ranked 18 in the world in the same event.

Murofushi is Asia's other genuine gold medal contender, but the world No 1 hammer thrower has Ivan Tikhon of Belarus, the current world champion, and his teammate Vadim Devyatovsky to contend with.

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