China to retain Asiad top spot

China to retain Asiad top spot

BEIJING: China's athletes will bag 15 track and field gold medals at the upcoming Asian Games, maintaining the country's top continental spot in the disciplines, a leading Beijing sports official predicted Monday.

China aims to see off tough competition from main rivals Japan and South Korea at the event, Wang Dawei, vice director of the Chinese track and field administrative center told the official Xinhua news agency.

Nonetheless, mirroring the success of the previous Asian Games when Chinese athletes also won 15 golds will be a tricky task at the upcoming competition, running from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14 in Busan, South Korea, Wang said.

"It's a tough project for the Chinese athletics as many of our gold hopefuls retired due to injuries," he said. --AFP