DOHA, Dec 11 - Chinese world record holder Liu Xiang shook off a crack-of-dawn alarm call to canter into Monday night's final of the Asian Games 110 metres hurdles.

"I got up at 05:40 this morning," the groggy Olympic champion said after the heats at the Khalifa stadium. "From memory I have never got up that early. Maybe I have not woken up yet but I prepared and warmed up well," he said.

"There were so many false starts today so I started slowly on purpose," he added, explaining his time of 13.74, almost a second off his 12.88 world record.

Liu is a red-hot favourite to add to China's medal count as the world's most populous nation guns for a record haul.

China won 150 at the last Asian Games in Pusan and its record is 183 in Beijing in 1990.

By early afternoon on Monday China topped the standings with 114 golds from 286 on offer.

South Korea leapfrogged Japan into second by winning four golds in the golf and golds in archery and cycling to boost their total to 43.

Japan have 38.

BANNED SUBSTANCE

A fourth weightlifter tested positive for a banned substance and was stripped of her silver medal.

Myanmar's Oo Mya Sanda, who won silver in the 75kg division, failed the test when traces of a banned muscle-building agent were found in her urine.

Oo's compatriot Than Kyi Kyi had been the first athlete to test positive for doping at the Games on Saturday. She was followed by two lifters from Uzbekistan, Elmira Ramileva and Alexander Urinov on Sunday.

Oo's silver medal goes to South Korea's Kim Soon-hee while Indonesia's Sinta Darmariani is bumped up from fourth to bronze.

China's Cao Lei won the 75kg gold medal.

Lee Min-hye grabbed gold for South Korea in the women's 3,000m individual pursuit, less than a year after she first began racing over the distance.

Lee beat China's Li Meifang by 1.7 seconds to win the title in a time of 3:44.146, just outside the Asian record she set in Sydney last month.

Lee also won bronze in the individual time trial on the road, with Li taking the gold.

"I only started individual pursuit this year. I'm happy with my progress so far," she told reporters. "I was very nervous beforehand, and I got a great start but it got tough later. My legs hurt so much. I told myself to just keep going."