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Chinese Shooting Coach: Hope More Teams Get Asian Games Golds

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Olympic champion-turned coach Wang Yifu said on Tuesday that he hopes more teams will win gold medals at the Asian Games.

"I wish more delegations will get Asian Games shooting gold medals," said Chinese head coach and twice Olympic champion.

"Shooters from different teams deserve the joy of winning gold medal."

Eighteen shooting titles were decided during the first three days of 2010 Guangzhou Asian shooting competition, with China winning 10 and South Korea sweeping the rest.

"As a Chinese coach, I have experienced the delight of getting five golds in the first day, and also suffered from the disappointment of losing all of the four golds in the second," said Wang.

"But that's one of the attractive parts of the shooting sport. You can never tell who will win before the final shot."

Except Zhu Qinan, none of Chinese Olympic shooting champions has struck gold in Guangzhou, but Wang was not worried. He saw the scenario as a good thing to the Chinese team, for it helped the team discover their weak points, which would be "valuable information" for Chinese preparation for London Olympics.

"On Sunday, three Olympic champions competed in the range, but none of them made it to the top," said Wang. "That didn't mean they failed. It means young shooters are getting better."

South Korea, who got only three shooting golds four years ago in Doha, surprised Wang with an eight-gold harvest and the outstanding performance of Jin Jong-Oh.

"Jin is a wonderful shooter," said Wang. "He made huge progress after claiming one gold at Beijing Olympics. He is the leader of the South Korean team."

Guangzhou Asiad shooting range will have 32 up for grabs for six more days.

In last Asian Games, China walked away with 27 out of 44 shooting golds.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2010)