Beijing - China's 110-metre hurdler Liu Xiang and his 30,000 fans were happy with his surprisingly quick time in a comeback race in his home town of Shanghai, local media said on Monday.

"I didn't think I could finish so fast," Liu told reporters after his first competitive race following a 13-month lay-off with a foot injury.

Liu was edged into second place at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix on Sunday by his US rival and world number two Terrence Trammell, with both men finishing in 13.15 seconds.

"This is my first race after such a long time," Liu said. "I will train harder for future races."

Anticipation had built among Liu's fans after he clocked a time of 13.70 seconds in a practice run against the wind. A crowd of about 30,000 at the Shanghai Stadium gave him a standing ovation after the race.

"I almost could not control myself after I started to run because I was so charged by the enthusiastic audience here," the China Daily newspaper quoted 26-year-old Liu as saying.

"After the start, I was trailing behind Trammell so I tried my best to chase him," he said.

Liu's coach, Sun Haiping was also pleased with the race.

"I told him to control himself in the race but I saw he tried with his best to fight in the latter part," the newspaper quoted Sun as saying.

"He didn't compete for a long time, so he should have been excited by the fans here," Sun said. "I'm very satisfied with his result. I didn't think he could finish so fast."

Veteran US hurdler Allen Johnson, a four-time world champion, added to the praise for Liu.

"I was surprised but I wasn't totally surprised," Johnson, 38, was quoted as saying after he was pushed into fourth place in the race by China's Shi Dongpeng.

"13.1 is fast, especially for a comeback race," Johnson said. "It shows that he is back."

Liu, the former world record holder and Athens Olympic 110 metres hurdles gold medallist, was forced to withdraw injured from the first round of the Beijing Olympics last August. He later went to Texas for corrective surgery. (dpa)