OSAKA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Liu Xiang reached the men's 110 meters hurdles final but defending champion Ladji Doucoure of France was eliminated at the world athletics championships here on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Chinese star, also holder of the world record of 12.88 seconds, clocked 13.25 to finish second in heat 3. Cuba's rising star Dayron Robles won the heat in 13.21.

Liu was the fifth overall in the three heats while American David Payne was the fastest by winning heat 1 in 13.19.

Doucoure crashed out after finishing third in his heat with 13.36, behind American Terrence Trammell in 13.23 and Ukraine's Serhiy Demydyuk in 13.35.

Liu's teammate Shi Dongpeng also qualified for the last eight by finished second in his heat in 13.24 seconds.