Kazakhstan's Roman Valiyev took a surprise win in the men's triple jump event at the Asian championships here on Friday. With new Asian triple jump record holder Li Yanxi of China absent and South Korea's Kim Deok-Hyeon pulling out, the final became an open race. Valiyev, who grabbed the silver at the 2006 Asian Games, was not the outright favorite in the final. Three Asian's top triple jumpers - China's Zhu Shujing and and India's Renjith Maheswary whose best leaps were over 70m - were supposed to shine. Li, who just set the Asian record of 17.59m at the 11th Chinese National Games last October, did not take part in the championships. Kim, who grabbed bronze and silver in the 2005 and 2007 Asian championships, withdrew from the event and Valiyev's chance of winning seemed bigger. He leaped an overwhelming 16.70m in the third attempt and took a surprise but easy win from the runner-up Zhu posting a mark of 16.67m. Maheswary, gold medalist in the event at the last Asian championships, jumped 16.48m to finished fourth. The silver medal went to Valiyev's compatriot Yevgeniy Ektov. The 25-year-old Valiyev's personal best jump is 16.98 meters, achieved at the 2006 Asian Games. He also competed at the Beijing Olympic Games but failed to reach the final. 