Notwithstanding the presence of the reigning Asian Games champions in both 100m hurdles (Lee Yeon-Kyoung of Korea) and 400m hurdles (Ashwini Akkunji of India), the Incheon start-lists provide a clue that new champions will emerge this time.
A three-cornered contest is in offing between Kazakhstan’s Anastasiya Pilipenko (12.93 secs), China’s Wu Shujiao (12.99) and Japan’s Ayako Kimura (13.13). The latter is the Asian champion from Pune. The re-emergence of China’s Sun Yawei will also be not ruled out in 100m hurdles.
As mentioned earlier Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain will be the top contender for 400m hurdles gold with her excellent 54.59 secs personal best this year. It means Leng Xueyan’s 20-years-old Games Record of 55.26 secs is under threat. Asian champion Satomi Kubokura from Japan and Xiao Xia of China will try for minor medals.
