With 2008 Beijing Olympics in mind, world sports powerhouse China is sending a comparatively young squad to the upcoming 2006 Asian Games to be held in Doha, but its determination to extend domination at the medal tally remains untouched.

"The Chinese delegation will strive to top the medals table for the seventh time running," said Duan Shijie, deputy chef de mission of the Chinese Sports Delegation and vice president of the State General Administration of Sports.

"It is hard to predict how many gold medals our athletes will win at Doha, but we will try our best to make sure we are at the top," added Xiao Tian, another deputy chef de mission of the Chinese Sports Delegation.

China pulled off 150 gold, 84 silver and 74 bronze medals four years ago in Busan to keep their top position at the quadrennial tournament for 20 years in a row since the 1982 version of the Asian Games in New Delhi, India.

For one reason or another, some stars will be absent from these games that are expected to attract around 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions. Athens 10,000m Olympic champion Xing Huina will not be seen on the track, and also missing are Athens 100m breaststroke winner Luo Xuejuan and badminton's Athens gold medalist Zhang Jun.

China is sending 647 athletes to compete in 37 out of 39 eventsin the 15-day tournament starting on Dec. 1 in Doha, and there will be a lot of new faces.

"As the Doha Asian Games will be the last large-scale international comprehensive sports meets for China, it is important that athletes and coaches collect experience for the Beijing Olympics," said Duan Shijie.

"Of the 341 male and 306 female athletes, 167 took part in the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and 176 competed in Busan Asian Games," he added. "But most of them, accounting for 63 per cent ofthe total, are making their debut in an international comprehensive tournament,"

"We hope the these Games can put our youngsters to test and give them a taste of what it will be like in the Olympics."

While China is almost certain to win the medal race, South Korea and Japan are expected to compete for the second spot.

South Korea consecutively ranked second in the 1998 Bangkok games and 2002 Busan games, while Japan took fifth place in the 2004 Athens Olympics with 16 gold medals, beating South Korea, which came in ninth with nine gold medals.

South Korea, which plans to send 750 athletes for 37 events, aims to garner about 70 to 75 gold medal, according to South Korean officials.

"Our overall objective is to get 75 gold medals to maintain ourspot at second place in the medal count," said Chung Hyon-suk, head of the South Korean athletic squad.

Japan, which excels in judo, swimming and track and field, is expected to win 58 to 65 gold medals.