Chinese Liu Xianying (C), Kong Yingchao (L) and Dong Xue pose at the awarding ceremony for the women's 7.5km biathlon at the 6th Asian Winter Games in Jilin, a city in northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 29, 2007. Liu Xianyin on Monday won the gold medal of the women's 7.5km biathlon. Kong Yingchao and Dong Xue won the silver and bronze medals.  (Xinhua Photo/Cui Feng) Photo Gallery>>>

    JILIN, Northeast China, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Veteran biathlete Liu Xianying led a strong Chinese charge to complete a clean sweep of the medals in the women's 7.5km sprint of the 6th Asian Winter Games at the Beidahu ski resort, 56km away from Jilin city on Monday.

    The 30-year-old Liu, who claimed a bronze at the 2003 edition in Japan, missed just two shots in the shooting leg against strong wind before clocking in 25 minutes and 19.28 seconds to win the title, the first gold medal of the snow sports in the Games.

    Fellow Chinese Kong Yingchao, who registered the best result in shooting with one missed shot, took the silver medal, 4.09 seconds behind. And youngster Dong Xue completed the sweep by finishing third with 52.91 seconds further back. Another Chinese Yin Qiao finished seven.

    Defending champion Tamami Tanaka of Japan placed fourth, one minute and 50.32 seconds behind Liu.

    "The weather conditions are so difficult, the wind was strong and changing in degree all the time, it is hard to have control especially in the shooting leg," said Klaus Siebert, head coach of the Chinese biathlon team. "And all the athletes had problems with the low temperature."

    "But our athletes just shot good, skied good, and they stayed cool and mentally strong," the German added.

    Chinese women biathletes made much progress in shooting leg following their poor finish at the Turin Winter Olympics one year ago.

    "Dong is a promising biathlete in future, and her performance in shooting could even rank among top 10 in the World Cup last season, but today she seemed a little bit nervous and did not find the rhythm in shooting," Seibert said of the 20-year-old Dong, missing two and three shots from prone and standing positions.

    The 32-year-old Tanaka, who beat Liu and Kong four years ago in Aomori, Japan, had to run the penalty lap two times after missing two shots in prone and standing positions apiece while Chinese Liuand Kong set up an early lead as both did not even miss a single shot in the prone position.

    "The result is normal, and our player did a good job in the competitions, but the Chinese skiers have just improved faster in recent years," said Atsushi Kazama, manager of the Japanese biathlon team.

    Biathlon comprises shooting and cross-country skiing. A missed shot results in one penalty lap. The skier with the best combined results wins. A total of 18 athletes from 6 countries and regions took part in the women's 7.5km sprint.