China tipped to dominate East Asian Games
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-10-29 10:58

China will continue their hunt for fresh talent for the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the East Asian Games starting here on Saturday, where they are hot favourites to extend their 12-year run at the top of the medals table.

Straight from the just-concluded National Games, China have sent their largest ever team of 394 athletes with star hurdler Liu Xiang the pick of 11 Athens Olympics gold medallists.

Liu, the first Chinese man to win Olympic track gold, made his breakthrough at the last East Asian Games in Osaka and deputy delegation chief Xiao Tian said he hoped more youngsters could follow suit.

"We hope to see more young, talented athletes emerge from the East Asian Games, just like Liu Xiang in 2001," he said.

"We know little about our main rivals, Japan and the Republic of Korea, so I cannot say how many medals we can win."

Diving glamour girl Guo Jinjing was mobbed on her arrival here on Thursday and the team is also represented by fellow Olympic heroes Luo Xuejuan, Li Ting and Du Li, who struck gold in women's breaststroke, tennis and shooting.

However the emphasis will be on the next generation with most competitors still in the early stages of their development.

"We will try our best to produce our best performance because it is an important step in our preparations for the Beijing Olympics in 2008," said deputy chef de mission Cui Dalin.

"We have a total of 394 athletes and more than 10 Olympic gold medal-winners with us, but most of them are young. I hope these young players can improve mentally and physically by competing at the East Asian Games."

Japan, China's closest rivals at the Games' previous three editions followed by South Korea, also have an eye on the future as they build up to next year's Asian Games in Doha, Qatar and the Beijing Olympics.

"We think the East Asian Games are very important, and regard them as one of four major events at world level," said Tomiaki Fukuda, head of Japan's 479-strong delegation.

"The results from here will be connected to next year's Asian Games and the next Olympic Games in Beijing."

North and South Korea plan to meet on the sidelines to discuss fielding a joint team at Doha and Beijing, and they are likely to repeat their symbolic gesture at Athens by marching together at Saturday's opening ceremony.

North Korea, an unknown quantity after missing the last two Games in South Korea and Japan, hope to surpass their achievements of Shanghai 1993, where they finished fourth with 10 golds.

"The fourth East Asian Games will be a good opportunity to promote the exchange of culture and friendship in the region," said North Korea's deputy chef de mission Kim Yong-man.

Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia and Guam round out the nine teams here. Guam, a Pacific island nation of only 150,000 people, has brought the smallest team of just 14 athletes and officials.

China, which finished second in the medals table at the last Olympics and is hoping to go one better in 2008, will be hoping to challenge Japan's traditional dominance in the pool after some eye-catching performances at its own national games.

China's women also set an astonishing 41 unofficial weightlifting world records at the Nanjing tournament.

However, China will want to improve their image after its national games were overshadowed by fresh doping revelations and allegations of cheating and corruption.

Organisers have opted for random drugs testing here under the standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and any bans will apply to all international competition.

The East Asian Games are the biggest sporting event ever held in Macau, a former Portuguese colony ceded to China as an autonomous territory in 1999. Organisers are hoping to attract up to 500,000 spectators to the nine-day tournament.

About 1,900 athletes will compete for 234 gold medals in 17 sports including acquatics, athletics, gymnastics, weightlifting, rowing, shooting, football, hockey, tennis and basketball.

There are also several more unusual events such as ballroom dancing, dragon boating, soft tennis and bowling. Asian martial arts are strongly represented by the Japanese discipline karate, taekwondo from South Korea and the Chinese wushu.