Liu set for six months out after surgery

China’s Liu Xiang is expected to return to the track in May after undergoing successful surgery on an Achilles injury in Houston, Texas.

The 2004 Olympic 110-metres hurdles champion, who carried the hopes of the nation in Beijing in August before limping away from the start line with the injury, is set to make a speedy recovery from the operation, which was carried out by Thomas Clanton, the doctor who treated basketball star Yao Ming prior to the Games.