Jamaican World champions Melaine Walker and Brigitte Foster-Hylton were in the winners' row, but the return of local hurdles hero Liu Xiang and blistering 100-metre wins by Americans Tyson Gay and Carmelita Jeter grabbed the main headlines at yesterday's Shanghai Grand Prix track and field meet.

Gay won the men's race in 9.69 seconds, the second-fastest time ever - behind Usain Bolt's world-record 9.58 - and Jeter became No.2 on the women's all-time list with a superb 10.64 win.

There were three Jamaican wins at the meet with Shericka Williams landing the women's 400 in 49.83 seconds and Foster-Hylton and Walker winning the 100-metre hurdles (12.56) and 400-metre hurdles (54.68), respectively.

Liu returned to competition for the first time in over a year and delivered a superb performance for second in a photo finish in the 110-metre hurdles behind American Terrence Trammell.

Stirring duel

In another stirring duel between IAAF World Championship and Olympic champion Foster-Hylton powered to a photo-finish victory over the American Dawn Harper in the women's sprint hurdles.

Both athletes clocked 12.56 seconds with Foster-Hylton given the edge for her sixth consecutive victory, stretching from her World Championship gold medal in Berlin last month.

Foster-Hylton had also narrowly beaten Harper at last weekend's World Athletics Final (WAF) in Greece.

Canada's Perdita Felicien was third in 12.73 followed by Jamaicans Nickeisha Wilson (12.92) and Lacena Golding-Clarke (13.10), fourth and fifth, respectively.

Walker was virtually unchallenged in her 400-metre hurdles win 54.68 seconds, topping Romania's Angela Morosanu (55.11). Trinidad and Tobago's Josanne Lucas was fourth in 55.31.

One-two finish

Williams led a Jamaica one-two finish in the women's 400, scoring in 49.83 seconds ahead of Novlene Williams-Mills (49.85).

Gay delivered on his pre-race comments about sending a message to Bolt that his time at the top of world sprinting would not go uncontested.

The 27-year-old American equalled Bolt's 2008 Beijing world record with his superb win that was aided by a wind of 2.0 metres per second, the maximum allowable following wind.

Gay flew past early leader Asafa Powell, the former world-record holder and sliced 0.02 second off his previous personal best and American record 9.71 seconds, which he posted behind Bolt's astounding world-record 9.58 in Berlin last month.

Jamaica's Powell was second in 9.85 and the American Darvis Patton equalled his personal-best 9.89 seconds for third.

Nesta Carter of Jamaica ran a career-best 9.91 for fourth, while the St Kitts and Nevis 33-year-old Kim Collins, who is quitting international athletics at the end of the season, placed sixth in 10.22. T&T's Marc Burns was seventh in 10.25 seconds.

In the women's 100, Jeter, who ran 10.67 last weekend at the WAF in Thessaloniki last weekend, chopped a further 0.03 second off her personal best and displaced Marion Jones (10.65) as the second fastest on the all-time list. Only world-record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner (10.49) has gone faster.

Jamaica's Olympic 200-metre champion Veronica Campbell-Brown clocked a season's best 10.89 for second and Bahamian veteran Chandra Sturrup (11.03) was third. Jamaica's Olympic silver medallist Sherone Simpson was fifth in 11.30.

Americans also landed the 200-metre races with Wallace Spearmon (20.57) beating Collins (20.90), American Shawn Crawford (21.04) and Jamaican Omar Brown (21.06) in the men's race, and Allyson Felix taking the women's race in 22.37.

Season's best

The Cayman Islands' Cydonie Mothersill clocked a season's best 22.45 for second and Bahamian Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (22.45) was third in the women's half-lap sprint.

The US Virgin Islands' LaVerne Jones-Ferrette (22.75), Jamaicans Anastasia Leroy (23.29) and Simone Facey (23.41) placed fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

No event on the programme generated as much excitement as the 110-metre hurdles as the Shanghai native Liu, the Athens Olympic champion, and Trammell hit the finish together in 13.15.

It was the first race for Liu since his devastatingly emotional withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics last year with a foot injury and he ran superbly, even surprising himself with the result.

"I never thought I'd have such a great result," Liu said after his run.

Liu, who had surgery in December, had taken a year off from competition to heal an injured right achilles tendon and was not expected to record such a fast time.

He recovered well from a sluggish start, collared Trammell in mid-race and engaged the World Champion-ship silver medallist in a stirring duel over the last 40 metres. China's Shi Dongpeng placed third in 13.34.

Jamaica's 2005 World Champion Trecia Smith, at 13.41 metres, was seventh in the triple jump won by Russian Tatyana Lebedeva (14.72m).