Chinese shooting team starts training in London

LONDON - The Chinese shooting team set their foot on the Olympic shooting range and had their first training session before the Olympics on Monday.

Former Olympic gold medalists Du Li, Pang Wei and Zhu Qinan were included in the training group.

Du would major in the women's 50m rifle three positions event, on which she shot down the precious Olympic gold four years ago on home court, to seek for her third straight Olympic gold.

The 30-year-old got married and gave birth to a child after Beijing Games, and now she was back on track.

Pang, Zhu and veteran Tan Zongliang were also in satisfactory situation. Pang and Tan would compete on men's 10m pistol event on the very first competition day.

"We are still trying to adjust to the time here," said Wang Yifu, head coach of the Chinese shooting team. "I lead the athletes here this morning to help them get familiar with the atmosphere."

The shooting team had experienced a unexpected long journey from Beijing to London. The heavy rain in Beijing delayed the plane for more than six hours before it finally took off. The team arrived in the Olymic Village at around 2 am in the morning. The shooters and coaches were tired.

The shooting events will commence on Saturday, and the women's 10m rifle event would produce the first gold medal for the London Games.