Liu Xiang set the fastest time of 13.73 seconds in the preliminaries to enter the semifinals of the men's 110-meter hurdles at the world athletics champs.

　　The 22-year-old, who won at Athens last year with a world record-tying time of 12.91 seconds, won Heat 2 against a headwind of 0.3 meters per second.

　　Four-time world champion Allen Johnson qualified from Heat 1 after battling gusting winds, which was blowing at a speed of 5.1m per second.

　　Doucoure was the season's fastest hurdler with a time of 12.97 seconds, which he clocked in France this July.

　　The men's 110m hurdles semifinals will be held on Thursday and the title will be decided on Friday.