DOHA, Qatar _ Chinese coach Zhang Yandong criticized his swimmers performance on Sunday, saying they were suffering from the same old case of nerves that hampered them at previous meets.

"I want to say it's not very good," Zhang said. "Many problems were exposed."

China collected five of the six golds on the competition's opening night Saturday, but just two on Sunday. Zhang said he was pleased with newcomers Yu Rui and Bai Anqi, but said he felt down by veterans such as Wang Haibo and Zhao Jing.

"I'm not very satisfied with the older swimmers," Zhang said.

However, Zhang singled out Wu Peng for praise, saying the men's 200-meter butterfly winner had been "very steady."

"It's not just his ability, but that he displays the spirit of dominance," Zhang said.

China sent a mix of veterans and newcomers to Doha and Zhang said his goal had been not only to win medals, but to see improvement in other aspects of the swimmers' performance to aid the competitiveness against stronger teams.

Zhang said a major difference between the top swimming nations and the rest was in psychological strength, and that the Chinese swimmers were still weak in that aspect.

"No matter how much we prepare for our team prior to the event to cope with this problem, the players still get nervous when they arrive," Zhang said.

China won 20 swimming gold medals at the last Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. Team officials have not publicly announced a target for Doha.