Kamel blasts Bahrain officials after Asiad failure

World champion Yusuf Saad Kamel blasted Bahrain team officials after crashing out of the 1,500 metres at the Asian Games on Monday, saying they had forced him to run with a painful knee injury.

"I got an injury on my right knee in June this year. I told my team officials but they didn't listen to me. They pushed me to come here and that's why I'm here," said Kenya-born Kamel after he finished ninth in his heat.

"I felt pain when I warm up and it hurts when I run ... I'm not upset about my failure, but about their pushing me to run. I know that I can't achieve anything," he added

Kamel was born Gregory Koncellah but switched citizenship to Bahrain in 2003. He is the son of Billy Koncellah, who won gold for Kenya in the 800m at the 1987 and 1991 world championships.

Mohammed Shaween of Saudi Arabia qualified fastest with a time of three minutes 44.51 seconds, more than 10 seconds slower than his personal best.

Bahrain's Belal Mansoor Ali, the silver medallist at the 2006 Doha Games and another former Kenyan, was second fastest.

Ali, formerly John Yego, was arrested by Kenyan authorities on suspicion of falsifying his age for the world junior championships in 2005 but was later released.

Stiff competition for national team slots has prompted dozens of Kenyan athletes to defect to oil-rich gulf nations in recent years in search of money, better training facilities and opportunities to compete at major international events.

Six track and field titles will be decided at the evening session, including the men's and women's 100 and 400m, the women's hammer throw and the men's pole vault.

Most of the 70,000 fans expected at Aoti Main Stadium will be firmly focused on one man, however, when former Olympic champion Liu Xiang runs in the 110m hurdles heats.

The pin-up boy of Chinese athletics has surrendered most of his major titles amid battles with injuries and form since limping out of the "Bird's Nest" at the Beijing Games in 2008, but will bid for a third straight Asian Games gold at Guangzhou.