'City Games grooms shooting hopefuls for Olympics'
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China Daily, October 24, 2011
Lang Wei, a top official of China's shooting governing body, said on Friday that the ongoing Chinese City Games has helped groom hopefuls for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The shooting tournament, which concluded on Friday, witnessed a field of more than 200 shooters, some of them already training with the national team.
"We use this City Games as a trial event for the teenage shooters and hope they can get more experience and become maturer, " Lang told local newspaper Nanchang Evening on Friday.
"We have spotted some young talents of real quality. Although they are too young to compete at next year's London Olympics, they can have a great shot in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro."
Lang also gave all thumbs up for Nanchang Wanli Shooting Centre, the major venue for the shooting competition of the City Games, saying it's one of the best venues he has ever seen.
"I think it's a world-class venue, it's even better than the venue of the London Olympics, so it's not surpring that Nanchang holds some international events like World Cup or Asian championships in the years to come," Lang said.
As a shooting powerhouse, China has reaped dozens of Olympic golds, but shooting never becomes a popular sport at grass-root level like in Europe.
"It's a sharp contrast between the two. We shoot for gold, while the foreigners shoot for fun, so we should not push our teenage athlets too hard, but teach them to enjoy the sport instead," Lang said.
According to the Chinese shooting governing body, China now only has a registration of 8,000 shooters, but Germany boasts a bulk of 200,000 professional shooters.
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