Most anticipated matchups Monday

DAEGU ― With the world championships going into their third day, the men’s and women’s sprints seem as unpredictable as the weather in Daegu.

The event to watch during the championships could well be the men’s 110-meters hurdles.

World recorder holder Dayron Robles will have much to worry about during the games, with contenders like China’s Liu Xiang and U.S. David Oliver competing close beside the Cuban. 

Former record holder and Chinese superstar Liu is eying new records this championships, but will first have to look to surpass Oliver’s season record of 12.94 seconds. Oliver is the only hurdler this season to achieve a sub-13 second mark, but couldn’t stop Liu from winning in Shanghai in May.

This will be the first time all three have competed together, and other contenders include Oliver’s own teammates Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson.

As much as the men’s hurdles is a toss up, so is the women’s 100m, with the U.S. looking to challenge Jamaica’s dominance of the sport.

Despite holding the world’s second-fastest time ever, U.S. sprinter Carmelita Jeter has yet to take gold in the championships, a fact that has only spurred her on as the season leader.

But Jeter could be edged out by Jamaica’s Olympic gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown, who will look for a repeat of her win over Jeter at the Samsung Diamond League in Shanghai.

It was only May when Campbell-Brown herself had the international season lead of 10.76 before Jeter’s own 10.70 topped it off two months before the Championships.

Also in the mix will be Campbell-Brown’s Jamaican teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who is the reigning world champion but is recovering from injuries, which is apparent in her performance as sixth this season going into Daegu.

Joining the women in the 400 is Allyson Felix, who is looking to take the gold from defending champion and compatriot Sanya Richards-Ross in relatively unfamiliar territory.

Despite previously dealing with injuries, Richards-Ross roared back into the game by taking first at the Samsung Diamond League in London, with a 49.66.

Threatening the U.S. is Russia’s Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, who ran the world’s season best 49.35 at the national championships, with her teammate Antonina Krivoshapka who ran a fast 49.71.

In the pole vault, the French will look to Samsung Diamond League Champion Renaud Lavillenie and his older teammate Romain Mesnil to bring home their first-ever world title in the event.

Women’s shot putter for New Zealand Valerie Adams, who has won championships for the last two years, will be defending her title against Belarus’ Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who has a season best of 20.94 meters, 0.16 meters further than the Kiwi.

Expect to see top performances coming from Europe and Japan in the men’s hammer with Pavel Kryvitski of Belarus trailing behind Murofushi Koji in the qualifications, followed by Krisztian Pars of Hungary.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)