By Sportswriter Ma Xiangfei
BANGKOK, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Missing most of their top athletes, China cashed in on the traditional strong events to top the medalstally at the World University Games, but their true test at the Olympics has yet to start.
The Chinese delegation stepped onto the top of the standings with 33 gold, 30 silver and 27 bronze medals when all the competitions of the 24th Universiade concluded here on Saturday.
Contrary to many teams who took the Universiade as a tune-up for next year's Olympics, China left most of its elites at home for closed-door training or Olympic trials.
"I think the competition level of this Universiade may be the highest compared to past versions. Many teams sent their best athletes here to warm up for the Beijing Games because the Beijing Olympics will also be held in August," said Yang Liguo, executive head of the Chinese delegation.
The Universiade lifted its curtain on Aug. 8, which is exactly one year before the Beijing Olympics opens.
"So we are happy with the results, which has proved that we are still very strong in our traditional events," he said.
Shooting posed as the biggest gold mine for China as nine out of 39 titles were clinched by the Chinese sharpshooters.
"We had expected three or four gold from shooting but they gave us nine," he said. "The first day was a mess but those university students were good at adjusting themselves and soon found their form in the following days."
Back in China, dozens of Olympic and world champions are slugging it out in national Olympic trials at the newly-built Olympic shooting range and shotgun field. The sharpshooters here can hardly keep themselves in China's top eight in their respective event.
Until now, China have 24 Olympic berths in hand for the shooting event, and the number may increase through a series of qualification tournaments.
Diving was still under the reign of China with seven out of 12 Universiade titles on offer and the gold rush may be repeated in next year's Games.
Athens Olympic champion Hu Jia and Peng Bo anchored the diving charge while their national teammates were in training camp. Athens men's 10m platform winner Hu is struggling to find his form after an eye surgery last year.
The Chinese diving team, spearheaded by double Olympic champion Guo Jingjing, swept all titles in March's swimming world championships in Melbourne with a group of young talents. Hu and Peng were left out of the roster then.
China looked unbeatable in table tennis, one short of sweeping the seven gold medals. Even with the second-string players, the paddlers from China were too strong for their opponents as three of the finals were played between them.
The Chinese swimming team is concentrating on their preparation for the Olympic Games with ace butterfly swimmer Zhou Yafei and freestyle specialist Yang Yu dropping out of the Universiade squad on the eve of departure.
The Universiade swimming squad was left to face Ukraine's double Athens Olympic champion Yana Klochkova, men's 50 breaststroke world record holder Oleg Lisogor and women's 100m freestyle world record holder Britta Steffen of Germany.
"Our swimmers tried their best but still failed to win a gold because their opponents were too strong for them," said Yang. China collected three silver and three bronze medals in swimming at the Universiade.
But the result was much better than what China had, one silver and one bronze, in the swimming worlds. To do better in the Olympics, China's senior team is shaping up for the upcoming international swimming open in Japan, which is an event offering Olympic qualifying points.
The athletics competition here saw two race walking titles for China. In Olympic history, Chinese walker Chen Yueling claimed the women's 10km title in Barcelona, and Wang Liping won the women's 20km gold for China in Sydney.
Besides the walk, Olympic champion and world record holder Liu Xiang from China will definitely try his best to bag the men's 110m hurdles gold in Beijing next year.
