DOHA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The continent's athletics powerhouse China topped the Asian Games medals table once again, but emerging powers like Bahrain and Qatar look set to challenge China's supremacy in future.

The 41-strong Chinese squad, led by Olympic champion and men's 110m hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang, scooped up 31 medals, including 14 gold, nine silver and eight bronze in the six-day athletics competition which closed on Tuesday.

On back of the strong showing of its "imports", Bahrain finished second place in the gold medal table with six, though its total of 14 medals was far behind Japan's 27.

Japan, a dominant force in Asian athletics till the 1982 Games, showed some signs of recovery in Doha, where it claimed five gold, nine silver and 13 bronze. The Japanese headed home with only two golds at the Busan Asiad.

Though host Qatar (3-4-1) failed to gather the maximum medals from its world-class "imports" like former Kenyans Youssef Saad Kamel (800 meters) and Essa Ismail Rasheed (10,000 meters), it is also a force to watch in years to come.

It was again in the women's section China's dominance was decisive. Though the track supremacy had diminished considerably from 1998 onwards, they still looked very formidable in the jumps and throws.

They almost made a clean sweep of the throws medals, except for the javelin where Buoban Pamang of Thailand beat Chinese favorite Ma Ning.

In the absence of Olympic champion Xing Huina due to injuries and Sun Yingjie, double gold medalist in the Busan Asian Games, who is serving a two-year suspension for doping, China saw teenager Xue Fei successfully take the mantle from her predecessors in distance events.

The little-known Xue, who was making her first Asian Games appearance, surprised all in winning China a precious gold medal in the women's 5,000 meters.

"She is very bright," said Feng Shuyong, head coach of Chinese national track and field team. "Hopefully she might give us a surprise in the Beijing Olympics."

With an eye on the Beijing Olympics, China has entered many of their young athletes here. But all the focus was on Liu Xiang. His Olympic gold in Athens provided a new thrust to country's athletics and his world record of 12.88 seconds in Lausanne in June this year further boosted his image.

The 23-year-old Shanghai native delivered on his promise of retaining his Asiad title and breaking the Games record when he stormed to victory in the final in 13.15 seconds.

However, China does not have anyone of Liu Xiang's caliber in the men's section in track events. The other two gold medals won by men was in the triple jump and 20km race walk.

A lot of sheen had been taken away from the competition with the withdrawal of world record holder in the 3,000 meters steeplechase, Saif Saaeed Shaheen due to an Achilles tendon injury, and Japan's Olympic hammer throw champion Koji Murobushi, because of a calf injury.

In the absence of Shaheen, Bahrain's Tareq Mubarak Salem, formerly Dennis Kipkurui Keter of Kenya, won the steeplechase.

The woman who dominated the games was Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal. The former Ethiopian made a golden double in the 800m and 1,500m.