SHANGHAI - THE recovery of China's injured hurdling star Liu Xiang is on schedule, but the reigning world champion is not ready to compete at major events or undergo top-level training, his coach said Tuesday.

VIDEO China hurdler Liu still unfit (1:20)

Liu will not defend his 110m hurdle title at the World Championships in Berlin in August and it was unclear whether he would be in form to run at the Golden Grand Prix in Shanghai in September, track officials said.

'Liu Xiang is able to compete in ordinary races, but in top-level international competition, I'm afraid the time is not right and we will have to wait,' Liu's coach Sun Haiping said in a video posted on website Sina.com.

'We want to ensure that he recovers safely. Right now the feeling is that there is no need for us to immediately return to competition, to immediately return to a high level of training,' he told journalists.

Sun was speaking after the press were allowed to attend Liu's Tuesday training session, where the hurdler appeared at ease and looked good leaping over hurdles.

Sun said he still feels discomfort in his heel and Achilles tendon, which is often sore or numb.

Liu, 25, has been training in seclusion since returning to Shanghai last March after three months in the United States where in December he underwent an operation to repair the Achilles tendon that forced his dramatic withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics.

The 2004 Olympic gold medallist was one of China's brightest stars at the Beijing Games last August before he shocked the nation by pulling up injured in the first qualifying heat.

If Liu is unable to run in the Shanghai meet in September, his first likely appearance after his injury could come at the China National Games in October. -- AFP