Top Chinese players advance into next round at WTT Champions in Budapest

BUDAPEST - Top men's seed Ma Long and top women's seed Chen Meng notched up victories to advance into the second round at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions, which kicked off here on Monday.

In men's singles, Ma defeated Austrian veteran Robert Gardos 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 12-10) and easily advanced to the round of 16, while in women's singles, Chen, who withdrew from the WTT Star Contender last week due to a shoulder injury, made a comeback against Monaco's Yang Xiaoxin, winning 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3).

Chen said after the game that although she was not in very good shape at the start, she was very happy to win the match under such difficult circumstances.

On Tuesday, Liang Jingkun, Wang Chuqin and Lin Gaoyuan of the Chinese team will play in the men's singles competition, while Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong will participate in the women's singles.

There are men's and women's singles only at the WTT Champions, with 32 players participating in each. Except for the absence of Fan Zhendong, the world No 1 in the men's singles, the top 15 men's and women's table tennis players in the world will all feature in the event.