Defending champions South Korea, runners-up Japan and China as well as Kazakhstan enter the men's event while the four are also the only teams in the women's. The four countries will face a double round robin event before the finals.

China finished third in both events four years ago in Aomori, Japan where curling was admitted to the Winter Asian Games for the first time.

"I know they are strong but with home spectators rooting for us, we believe we can win," said women's curling team player Wang Bingyu.

Curling came to China in 1995 but a professional team was only set up in 2002. Until now, there are 10 professional teams in China, mainly in Beijing and Heilongjiang province.

"Chinese started playing curling much later than the South Koreans and the Japanese. As far as I know, there should be one or two decades of progress between us," said women's team leader Li Dongyan. "So they will be very strong opponents in the Asiad. But we have made progress really fast in the past few years with a possibility of beating them," he said.

Chinese women's team seized the title in the Pan-Pacific curling championships late last year while the male counterparts finished third.

Curling, believed to have originated in Scotland, is a game where players slide heavy granite stones down a sheet of ice aimed at a circular target area. As the stone slides, teammates sweep the ice in its path with brooms or brushes. This warms the ice a little, reducing friction and causing the stone to slide farther and straighter. Curling appears to be a simple game, but to master it players must learn complex strategies.

The 6th Winter Asian Games will open on Sunday through Feb. 4.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2007)