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Top Chinese athletes committed to GamesEven without Yao Ming, mainland team likely to dominateFrom Unus Alladin 2005 EAST ASIAN GAMES(CNN) -- Olympic champion Liu Xiang will headline a strong Chinese contingent who will be competing in the East Asian Games as China look to dominate the competition. China will compete alongside traditional Asian rivals South Korea and Japan in the Macau competition from October 29 and November 6 and Liu will be the main attraction at the Games. Liu, the Olympic gold medalist in the men's 110 meter-hurdles, said the East Asian Games would be his last major race of the year and he was going to go out with a win. "The standard at the East Asian Games will be a lot lower than some of the competitions I have competed in this year. I feel confident that I will win the gold medal in Macau,'' said Liu, who recently won his race at the inaugural Shanghai Golden Grand Prix Liu has had another good year on the athletics track. Just last week, he beat his great American rival, Allen Johnson, to win a nail-biting affair at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, which was held in his home town. Liu clocked 13.05 seconds for his season's best time, although he said he wouldn't have to clock anything close to that time to win in Macau. "I think 13.20 seconds will be good enough to win in Macau. I don't really have any great rivals in Asia. My toughest competitor will probably be my teammate, Shi Dongpeng, who finished third in Shanghai. "He's [Shi] improving all the time. But I feel confident the race will be mine,'' said Liu, who shares the world record of 12.91 seconds with Britain's Colin Jackson following his historic win in Athens last year. "Winning the gold medal in Shanghai was really something because all my friends and relatives and everybody I know were at the stadium supporting me. I had a lot of pressure on me, but I did it. I won the race and I think I can relax a little bit now,'' said the 22-year-old Shanghai native. "I will be competing for Shanghai in the All-China National Games in October and then I will press on and compete in Macau. I hope I will retain my good form in Macau. "It's been a very long season and I am beginning to feel fatigue. The All-China National Games is also important. So is the East Asian Games. I won't compete in Europe anymore this year,'' said China's Olympic hero, who followed up his win in Shanghai by winning in Yokohama. Liu has been untouchable in Asia so far this year. He easily won the gold medal at this month's Asian Championships in Incheon, South Korea, where he smashed the meet record with a respectable time of 13.40. That broke the existing record of 13.49 seconds set by compatriot Li Tong in 1993 in Kuala Lumpur. Shi Dongpeng is also improving and was third in Shanghai last week with a time of 13.40 seconds -- the same time Li won in Incheon. Only Iran's Rohollah Asgari Gandmani, who won bronze in Incheon in 13.89 seconds, poses the biggest threat to Liu after Shi. Apart from Liu confirmed for Macau, organizers of the East Asian Games announced China also would send their two best female distance runners, Xing Huina, the Olympic champion in the 10,000 meters, and Sun Yingjie. Xing was the big surprise at the Athens Games last year when she scooped gold in the 10,000 meters after finishing a disappointing ninth place in the 5,000 meters. She finished fifth at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix behind a quartet of African runners headed by Ethiopian Meseret Defar. "I am not in very good form but I hope to be in better shape for Macau. I will also compete in the All-China National Games and Macau will be one of my last races before the end of the year,'' said the 22-year-old runner. Organizers are confident China will also send their best shooters and divers to the Games, and spectators will surely be drawn to the mainland's Guo Jingjing and Tian Liang -- China's Romeo and Juliet couple of the pool -- if they confirm their entries. Guo and Tian, who won gold medals in Athens last year, are almost certain to compete at the state-of-the-art Macau Olympic Aquatic Center. But organizers are unlikely to draw one of the biggest sports stars of the mainland to the Games -- NBA superstar Yao Ming. Yao will be competing in the All-China National Games representing Shanghai and is unlikely to make the trip to Macau. He will most likely fly back to the US after the All-China Games in Jiangsu to play in several pre-season games for the Houston Rockets before the new NBA season. 
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