China won the Asian Games men's track team sprint Monday, beating holders and rivals Japan into second, then immediately set their sights on a medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Iran beat Malaysia in the bronze medal race-off, a result one of the Malaysian riders called "a kick in the arse."

A triumphant Cheng Changsong, who rode the first lap for the Chinese, silver winners in Doha four years ago, said, "It's our dream to win this gold medal because Japan are very strong opposition, but we were better today."

Teammate Zhang Lei, whose brother Miao made up the trio of racers, added, "Our aim is to do better in the coming World Cup and the London Olympic Games in 2012.

"In 2008 we were ranked nine but we hope to be in the top three in London."

Pre-race favorites and hosts China clocked a winning time of 44.429 seconds at the Guangzhou velodrome, with Japan coming home in 44.633 seconds.

Iran registered a time of 44.815 and Malaysia just missed out on a medal with 45.175.

"This is a kick in the arse," said a disappointed Edrus Yunos. "If we want to qualify for London we have work to do and we have to re-evaluate."

In the individual competition, China's Jiang Fan won the women's pursuit gold Monday.

Agencies