Chinese sharpshooters will fight off pressure to win more gold medals at next year's Athens OlympicGames than they got in the Sydney Games, according to the head coach of the Chinese national shooting team.

Xu Haifeng admitted his team is "under great pressure" to do better than in Sydney four years ago, where they grabbed three golds, two silvers and three bronzes.

"But all of us will give out best shot and get fully ready for the Athens Games," Xu was quoted by Tuesday's China Sports Daily as saying.

Xu, who became the first Chinese to win an Olympic gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, said Chinese shooters had won 21 slots for the Athens Olympics.

"There are still 10 more berths left open and we will try our best to win them," he said.

He predicted China will send 25 to 26 shooters to Athens, but said the national team has not set a target on gold medals.

A training camp has been set up in southern Guangdong Province,with a preliminary team of 57 shooters.

"It's a tough road to Athens," Xu said. "But the shooters are in good shape," he added.

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