LIU HONG from Shenzhen defended her 20km title in style yesterday to maintain China’s gold medal monopoly in women’s race walking since it was introduced to the Asian Games in 1986.

    Liu, who took bronze at the 2009 Berlin worlds a year after finishing fourth at the Beijing Olympics, clocked a season’s best of one hour, 30 minutes and six seconds on the course outside the Aota Main Stadium to win gold.

    Japan’s Masumi Fuchise took silver in 1:30.34, with Li Yanfei, also of China, claiming bronze in 1:32.34 in a race that featured just six competitors. There was some personal drama, however, for Liu, she walked the second half of the race carrying two warnings for “lifting” — failing to keep at least one foot in contact with the ground at all times — and a third would have meant disqualification.

    “We were well prepared,’’ said Liu, who with her Chinese teammates have been training under the watchful eye of legendary Italian coach Sandro Damilano in northern Italy.

    “We can predict all the conditions that might happen in the competition so I’m not surprised to get two red cards,’’ she said of the warnings she received for failing to keep minimum contact with the track.

    The Chinese pair, Fuchise and the second Japanese competitor Mayumi Kawasaki quickly built up a lead on the two other competitors in the race, South Korean Jeon Yeong-eun and Tun Kay Khing Myo Tun of Myanmar.

    (SD-Agencies)