When the first gold medal is shot down by sharpshooters on the second day of the 2006 Doha Asian Games, the Chinese contingent will be setting off on the way to retaining their top position on the medals tally.

For the Chinese delegation who remained top of the medals table for the past 24 years, Doha is not a termination but one stop on their road to the Beijing Olympic Games less than two years away.

"As the last comprehensive sports meets before the Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese shooting team will focus more on collecting experiences and putting the athletes' ability to test than gold medals," said Gao Zhidan, head of the shooting and archery section of the State General Administration of Sports, one of the official governing bodies of sports.

"To some extent, Asian Games is similar to the Olympic Games in the aspects of scale, competing procedure and atmosphere, which will give my athletes and coaches a taste of what they will be facing in Beijing Olympics," said Gao.

For one reason or another, some stars will be absent from these games expected to attract 15,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions slated from Dec. 1-15. 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.

Despite of their absences and Chinese athletes' long term goal of shining in Beijing, China may most probably enjoy leading other participants once again in the second largest comprehensive games next to Olympic Games. China seized 150 gold, 84 silver and 74 bronze in the Busan Asian Games four years ago, leaving host South Korea to a distant second with 96 gold and Japan settled for the third with 44.

China's gold medal haul this time may again start with the shooting event which offers the first gold in the men's team air riffle at these games as Athens Olympic champion Zhu Qinan, runner-up Li Jie and World Cup Finals runner-up Liu Tianyou are fielded from the 40-member Chinese shooting team.

Chinese sharpshooters, dubbed "Dream Team" in Busan as they bagged 27 of the 42 gold on offer, may hardly repeat their feat last time with 22 debutants in their squad, but they still strive to play the dominant role in shooting event.

Another "Dream Team" seems more confident of pulling off all the 10 gold medals as the 14-strong Chinese diving team is spearheaded by three Olympic champions Guo Jingjing, Wu Minxia and Li Ting.

Guo, 25, will be the oldest in the team as the double Athens Olympic champion kicks off her third trip to an Asian Games.

"This is an easy trip for me because I only compete in the three-meter synchronized springboard," she said. She clinched titles in both individual and three-meter synchronized board in Athens in 2004.

"I want her to have a rest. These Asian Games will be a major battle field for younger divers," said team leader Zhou Jihong. "It is they who need the opportunity."

There was a third Dream Team who once lost their glory in Athens in 2004 but came back with brilliant performance at this year's world championships in Denmark. When the Asian Games is coming up, Chinese gymnasts appear low key although they just scored brilliant victories in Denmark.

They bagged eight out of 14 gold in Denmark, including men's and women's team titles besides women's vault and floor as well as men's all-round, parallel bars, pommel horse, and ring. All the 14 world champions except Li Ya will travel to Doha.

But head coach Huang Yubin said he could not forget what they called the Battle of Waterloo in Athens where they collected only one gold and one bronze at the Olympic Games.

"We should not forget our failure in the past because the comeback to glory is so hard," he said.

"We will remain low key for the Asian Games. We are a team with our feet on the ground," he added.

Chinese swimming will try to keep dominating Asian swimming pool after winning 20 in Busan in 2002 and its more important goal will be selecting the best for Beijing Olympic Games.

"Doha will be crucial for the team's preparation for Beijing as it is a great opportunity of finding young talents," said Li Hua, head of swimming section of the Administration.

Luo Xuejuan is absent but 15-year-old Wang Quan is expected to take over in the women's breaststroke. New faces also appear in backstroke, freestyle and butterfly events.

The track and field squad of 52 members do not have as many big names as those dream teams but can boast of their Olympic 110m hurdles champion and world record holder Liu Xiang.

The 110m hurdles title is almost a sure thing for Liu and there are expectations on some women's events such as pole vault, 400m hurdles, marathon and road walk.

For some teams, Doha is not only a 'mid-term test' in their preparation for Beijing, but also a chance of redeeming their reputation as long-time world powers.

Chinese table tennis, considered the country's national sport, suffered the worst ever Asian Games result in Busan where they only had three gold out of seven.

Similar to table tennis, badminton was below expectation when they merely took home two titles.