CHANGDE, Hunan province, Oct. 20, 2003 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese rowers need more confidence and courage to win in world major tournaments, said Nick Gioga of Romania Monday.

    Gioga, who led Romanian team to three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is in a six-month contract with Guangdong rowing team, who are racing in the fifth Chinese City Games.

    "China boasts of more manpower and material than Romania, but the Chinese rowers need to have more confidence and courage to wininter national races," he said.

    Gioga took the post as Romanian team head coach in 1996 and led the team to a series of glories including the victories in Sydney.

    "China is not short of boats and genius, but victory doesn't come naturally with rowing skills and hard training," he said, adding that his target in China is to help the team to take three golds in 2008 Olympics if he could extend his contract until that time.

    However, his verdict was denied by his Chinese colleagues. Wu Yaoxue, head coach of men's rowing team in Liaoning province, said," confidence and courage come out of strength, and the Chinese team is not strong enough to compete with the European rivals."

    "Our training method is out-dated and we need to understand more about the sport," he said.

    China, as the dominating power in Asian rowing, has improved a lot in the sport. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the Chinese team notched up one silver medal and in the 2003 World Championships in Milan, the Chinese rowers for the first time returned home with a gold medal.