Houston Rockets doctor to treat Liu's foot: report

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has put its faith in Houston Rockets doctor Tom Clanton to help fix the foot of injured 110 meters hurdles world champion Liu Xiang, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the Chinese Athletics Administrative Center.

Clanton, who helped the Rockets' Chinese center Yao Ming recover from a stress fracture in his left foot last year, will operate on the Achilles' injury that robbed Liu of his chance to defend his Olympic title at August's Beijing Games.

"He has performed surgery on Yao Ming before. This is the main reason for selecting (Clanton)," Feng Shuyong, vice director of the China Athletics Administrative Center, told a report posted on the website of the Chinese Athletic Association (www.athletic.sport.org.cn).

"Apart from that, Yao Ming and his family are in Houston, and can help take care of (Liu), so there is no reason to go anywhere else," Feng said.

Liu, who hobbled from the track minutes before his first-round heat in Beijing, would fly to Houston on Wednesday, with surgery "basically fixed" for Friday, media portal Sina.com said in a separate report on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old would remain in the U.S. after the operation to recuperate, which was expected to take at least six months.

Liu last month told reporters in Monte Carlo he was unsure he would be fit to defend his world title in Berlin next August.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)