BELGRADE, May 30: World 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell got off to an impressive 2007 start on Tuesday when he won the men's 100 metres in a time of 9.97 seconds.

Powell, who suffered a knee injury in April, was quickest out of the blocks and led comfortably throughout the race to finish ahead of Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles, who clocked 10.11 seconds, and Jamaican compatriot Michael Frater with 10.19 secs.

“I feel very pleased with my time and I'll gladly come back here any time,” Powell told reporters after the race.

“I gave all I had in my first race of the season and this win means a lot to me because it was a strong field and the 26th time I clocked under 10 seconds.

“There was no sign of the injury, I felt absolutely perfect.”

Bulgaria's Iveta Lalova won the women's 100 metres in 11.26 seconds after world number one Sherone Simpson of Jamaica pulled out with a muscle strain during the warm-up.

It was a dream return to action for Lalova, who missed two years with a broken thigh bone and she finished strongly to come in ahead of Mikele Barber of the US (11.27) and Jamaica's Sherika Williams (11.34).

“This is the happiest day of my life, I feel like I've been born again. This is a very emotional moment for me and I've shown here today that I am survivor,” she said.

Moses Masai of Kenya ran the fastest 5,000 metres of the year so far to win in a time of 13 minutes 08.81 seconds ahead of compatriots Hosea Macharynyang and Mark Kiptoo.

“It was a very good pace from the start and I really pushed myself in the final five laps to achieve this result. I think I will do even better later in the season,” he said.

Jamaica's Nolle Graham set a personal best of 6.65 metres to win the women's long jump while Serbia's Luka Rujevic got a standing ovation after finishing second in the men's shot put with 20.08 metres, behind Latvia's Maris Urtans (20.14).—Reuters