And Sheik Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said the organizing committee has to work hard to attract more audiences for Asia's premier sporting event.

The 303-member delegation including China's fencing, cycling, swimming, basketball, handball teams and nation's top sports authorities, attracted swarms of journalists to the Gimhae International Airport to cover the team's arrival which is seen as the sure biggest winner of the games.

Ahead of them, the Chinese equestrian, soccer, beach volleyball and part of the rowing squads arrived on Wednesday.

China has sent a 948-member group, the biggest in its history, to the tournament which starts on Sunday and runs to October 14.

Li Furong, deputy chief de mission and himself a former notable ping-pong world champion, remained cautious and said the host will pose an unprecedented challenge to the Chinese team which consists of mainly young athletes.

"This will be the most difficult Asiad for us," said Li.

"Lots of Chinese athletes average age is just over 20 and they lack competition experience," he said. "It is hard to predict how they will perform on court."

He claimed that the South Koreans who are well prepared for the games, will be hard to beat on their home soil.

"For the preparations, they even quit some important international competitions," said Li, adding: "They will be very tough for us."

South Korea boasts the largest number competitors at the tournament, with more than 1,000 expected to take part in the games. It aims to secure the second place in medal tally behind China, but ahead of its perennial rival, Japan.

China has topped the medal tally since the 1982 New Dehli Asian Games and is targeting a sixth in a row for the top slot. Li said they are hoping to win120 gold medals, but many said the number could be as high as 150.

"We are confident at being able to keep our leading status," he continued in an upbeat tone. Li said that China's overwhelming strength in several events included diving, shooting and women's weight lifting, will help them achieve their target prediction.

However, Al-Sabah could not be expected to be so upbeat when faced with the lower-than-expected ticket sales.

"We have not reached our target (on ticket sale)," he admitted.

He said the games were sidelined by the 2002 World Cup, which were held in South Korea and Japan three months earlier.

The ticket sales have been disappointing and about 83 per cent of a total of 2.6 million tickets remained unsold before Tuesday.

"Maybe there is a new tradition (for audiences) to buy tickets shortly before the opening," he said, half-jokingly.

He said the organizing committee would put more efforts into promoting public interest in the days remaining before the opening ceremony on Sunday.

"At least there should be many spectators for the main events," said Al-Sabah.

The 42 per cent of tickets for the closing ceremony and 87 per cent of tickets for the opening ceremony have been reserved or sold, while the soccer final and semi-finals have sold out.

(China Daily September 27, 2002)