Chinese launch campaign in ITTF champs
(crienglish.com)
Updated: 2005-05-02 08:15

China has kicked off its campaign to win all events at the ongoing ITTF World Championships in Shanghai with all home players win in the opening day.

In women's singles, Olympic champion and world number one Zhang Yining stunned unseeded Medina Paula of Columbia 11-2, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.

Meanwhile, China's youngster Cao Zhen also eased to the next stage after beating Ukraine's Kovtun Elena 4-0.

In the doubles, top pair Wang Nan and Zhang Yining nailed a Slovenian duo in straight sets to reach the second round.

The same four-love result was achieved by another Chinese duo Bai Yang and Guo Yan, while Niu Jianfeng and Guo Yue encountered slight resistance from Slovakian counterparts.

But only a loss in the fourth game could not stop Chinese advancing with 4-1.

Chinese peddlers met a genuine challenge in the men's competitions.

In the singles, world top player Wang Liqin struggled to oust India's Kamal Achanta Sharath 4-1 for a berth in the second round.

Chinese veteran Kong Linghui and rising star Chen Qi each beat their rivals 4-0 for their opening victory.

In men's doubles, Wang Liqin and Yan Sen were obviously out of form as they fought to a hard win over Indonesian via a decider.

The two didn't pick their form until the last game, in which Wang Linqin's final stroke locked the score at 11-5 and the pair survived with 4-3.

In other matches, Ma Lin and Chen Qi and Kong Linghui and Wang Hao overcame rivals with the same 4-1.

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