China claimed the first gold medal of the Doha Asian Games with a victory in the men's 10m air rifle team event Saturday morning.

The Chinese team, composed of Olympic champion Zhu Qinan, Li Jie and Liu Tianyou, scored a winning total of 1,786 points.

South Korea grabbed the silver medal with 1,777 points, just one point ahead of third-placed India.

"It's a great start for the Chinese delegation," said Duan Shijie, deputy chef de mission of the Chinese sports delegation.

"This gold is a perfect morale-boost for our fellow Chinese athletes to compete in this Games," Duan added.

"The marathon is over now. Pressure is always there," said Wang Yifu, head coach of the Chinese rifle and pistol shooting team.

"We had a below-bar performance today, but I am delighted that we won the first gold for the Chinese delegation," he added.

"It's very difficult to win this gold at the Asian Games, because Indian shooters are very strong in air rifle events," Wang added.

The injury absence of Abhinav Bindra, who became the first Indian to win a world championship gold when he captured the air rifle title in Zagreb in July, made it easier for China.

"If Bindra had come here, it would be even more difficult for us to win the gold today," said Chang Jingchun, coach of Zhu Qinan and Li Jie.

Zhu Qinan, the Athens Olympic gold medalist in the men's air rifle, and Li Jie, the silver winner after Zhu in Athens, didn't find the form that carried them to Athens glory as both finished the 60-shot competition with 594 points, a joint fourth place among the 42 competitors.

The little-known Liu Tianyou turned out to be the hero of the defending Asian Games champions as the 24-year-old scored the highest 598 points.

Zhu Qinan

Li Jie

Liu Tianyou

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2006)