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Winter Asiad:Cross-country skiing team to "draw sword"(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-01-19 09:18 As the 6th Asian Winter Games approaches, Chinese cross-country skiers have been intensifying their training and expect to "draw sword" in the Games slated for Jan. 28 - Feb. 4 in Changchun, Northeast China, said their head coach on Thursday. "We have confidence in the competition 10 days later, and we promise to give the Chinese people a pleasant surprise," said Per-Erik Ronnestrand, head coach of the Chinese cross-country skiing team. Ronnestrand and his team have been training in the cities of Changchun and Jilin for about half a month and all the members are in healthy condition. "Our skiers are becoming increasingly mature in skills, especially players like Li Geliang and Xia Fang. And they are catching up with the world champions," said the coach. Wang Chunli, who captured all women's titles in Far East Cup of the International Ski Federation and Vasaloppet China 50km ski race earlier this month in Changchun, said her achievement was nothing much and she expected more in the upcoming Asian Winter Games. "This is just a beginning. I will play to my best in the Asian Winter Games," said Li Geliang, the first and second runner-up of men's events of the two sport events. The biggest threat for the Chinese men's team comes from Kazakhstan and that for the women's team from Ukraine, said Ronnestrand, but the Chinese team will never fear. Li Geliang chased Olympic champion Stanislav Rezac for the silver medal by 10 seconds in two hours 19 minutes and 10 seconds at Vasaloppet China. "The competitiveness of the Chinese cross-country skiing team is speeding up in the world, and the earlier two international sports have just provided a good chance for their training," said Wang Yitao, president of the China Skiing Association. Players like Wang Chunli and Li Geliang were quite promising and they would be the main force in the Winter Asiad competing for the gold medal, Wang added. The 6th Asian Winter Games will be another stage for the Chinese team to consolidate their dominance in Asia.
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