South Korean shooters has tapped down expectations at the Asian Games, citing China is just too strong.

"We has pinned our hope on Olympic silver medalist Jin Jong Oh, Olympic double medal winner Lee Bo Na, and Asian Games reigning champion Son Hye Kyoung," said Chung Bum Sik, an official from the South Korean Shooting Federation, referring to the Dec. 2-8 shooting competition.

"But actually we don't have much chance in winning the individual events as the Chinese shooters are too strong," he added.

Jin, 27, crowned both in men's 10-meter air pistol and 50m pistol at the World Cup in Guangzhou, China, was the only double World Cup winner in the men's pistol this year and considered one of the biggest threats to Chinese veteran Tan Zongliang and newly-crowned world champion Pang Wei.

The South Korean shooters struck six gold medals in the 2002 Asian Games, four of which were from team events.

"We hope to win three to four gold medals this time, mainly from team events, because I guess the Chinese team, which is even stronger than four years ago, will sweep 30 golds or more, thus there will be only a small piece of cake for the other teams to share," said Chung.

Shooting is the second gold-rich sport in the Asian Games, offering 44 gold medals, only one short of the athletics.

"Please send a word to the head of the Chinese team, don't taketoo many gold medals," he added.

The 25-year-old Lee Bo Na, who won a silver medal in the women's double trap and a bronze in the trap event in the Athens Olympics, is a sure shot at the double trap as two of the three Chinese competitors are not specialists in this event.

With the Beijing Olympics in mind, the Chinese shooting team, which pocketed 27 golds out of 42 last time, will focus on 15 Olympic events in Doha. They send only one shooter in each non-Olympic event, leaving chances to other Asian teams in Lusail Shooting Complex.

The South Korean shooting team, which has 42 athletes and nine coaches, are among the early arrived teams. According to Chung, they arrived on Dec. 25 and started training the next day.