Olympic gold medalist Xian Dongmei faces big challenges from both her national teammates and herself in vying for a berth to next year's Beijing Olympic Games after the judoka back to the mat from retirement, said national coach on Thursday.

Fu Guoyi, head coach of Chinese national team who helped Xian win the women's 52kg title three years ago in Athens, told Xinhua during the ongoing Beijing Judo Open that the 32-year-old entered the draft list of China's judo team for the 2008 Games, but still has long road to go before making it certain.

"She's in good form right now, but far from reaching her peak," said Fu.

Xian, who retired from competitive judo after the 10th National Games of China in late 2005, announced her return in April, three months after giving birth to a baby girl.

She claimed the women's half-lightweight title in August's national championships in her comeback.

In the category, China have a strong camp besides Xian, with the 2005 world championship winner Li Ying in Cairo and the newly-crowned world champion Shi Junjie in Rio de Janeiro.

"It's hard to say now which one of the trio will finally be given the ticket to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games since they all had good performance on world stage," said Fu.

The final entry of judokas will be shortened to only one judoka from a country or region in each category.

"We'll have two more trials before having the final list for the Olympic roster, and every other tournament besides the trials will also be counted while valuating the performance of each judoka," said Fu.

"Xian, however, is in steady paces in improving herself on all aspects, physically, technically and mentally, though she's just come back for a short time," he added.

Chinese judokas have all geared up for next year's Beijing Olympic Games on home soil though the country's governing body of the sport has not yet decided on the final entry list, while Fu and other coaching staff of the national team have been working on the study of main foreign rivals, added the national coach.

The two-day competitions of the 2007 Beijing Judo Open, held in the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium where the Olympic judo competitions to be staged, is acting as a test of the venue and a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympics.

In Thursday's competitions, the hosts China only harvested a bronze in the women's 52kg category from Xiao Jun with the tournament featuring few stars.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2007)