China

China to blood Olympic rookies at Doha Asian Games

(AFP)
Updated: 2006-11-17 19:36

BEIJING - Asia's sporting giants China has said they planned to use next month's Asian Games to groom a new generation of rookie athletes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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Unveiling a squad of 647 athletes for the December 1-15 Asiad in Doha, sports officials said more than 400 had been selected to give them a first taste of major international competition.

"The Asian Games are the last large-scale multi-sport event before the Beijing Olympics and it is important that athletes and coaches gain experience before the 2008 Games," Duan Shijie, China's deputy sports minister, told a press conference.

"We hope these games can put our younger players to the test and give them a taste of what it will be like during the Olympics."

More experienced athletes, including world and Olympic gold medallists, will be rested, he said.

China has dominated Asian sport for more than two decades and has since emerged as a global force, finishing a close second to the United States at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

China's performance there drew widespread praise, with International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge saluting the rise of a new sports power.

"With 63 medals won at the Athens Games, of which 32 were gold, the progress of Chinese athletes at the Olympic Games has been remarkable over the past 22 years," he said.

The ambition to step up a level and become the top sporting nation in the world has grown since Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympics five years ago.

The target is a major motivation for China's competitors, including their swimmers. The squad includes a mix of veterans and unknown teenagers but there is no room for Athens women's 100m breaststroke champion Luo Xuejuan, who has been left out.

"The Asian Games are considered the mid-term exam for us as the final exam is the Olympics," said coach Zhang Yadong, according to Xhinhua news agency.

"What we hope is that all swimmers do their best and the rookies make auspicious debuts in Doha."

China has topped the Asian Games medals table since 1982 and another goal of its experimental squad in Doha is to retain that position despite competition from Japan and South Korea.

At the last edition in Busan, South Korea in 2002, China won 150 gold medals against 96 for South Korea and 44 for Japan.

"In Doha our goal is to top the medals table in terms of gold medals and also in terms of total medals and to ensure that China dominates the Asian Games for the seventh edition in a row," said Cai Zhenhua, a deputy head of the delegation.

Even so key athletes including Olympic and world champions are being left behind. In table tennis men's singles world champion Wang Liqin and the women's world champion Zhang Yining were overlooked for barely known youngsters.

China's all-conquering diving team will miss Tian Liang, 27, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men's 10m platform dive while double women's Olympic champion Guo Jingjing is competing in just one event in Doha.

In contrast China's entire world championship winning gymnastics team is heading to Doha apart from Li Ya, who is replaced by teenager Han Bin in the women's squad. The team is expected to dominate in Doha after collecting eight of the 14 gold medals at the world championships in Denmark last month.

Also boosting China's medal count will be top track star Liu Xiang, the Olympic 110m hurdles champion and world record holder, who will head the 41-strong athletics team that also includes rising star Huang Haiqiang, the high jump junior world champion.