China got off to a strong start at the Asian table tennis
championships on Monday, with its players crushing all the
challengers from Macao of China, Singapore and Indonesia.
China whitewashed Macao in the first round of the championships
after World No. 2 Guo Yue made easy work of her victory against Ma
Chao In of Macao 3-0 in the women's team opener.
The Chinese girls then breezily cruised to their second and
third wins, downing both Singapore and Mongolia 3-0.
Eighth-ranked Wang Yue Gu of Singapore had managed to take a
11-6 lead in the first set of her encounter with Guo, but Guo
staged a spirited comeback to take the next three.
Yemen's absence delayed China's appearance in the men's team
until late in the day when Chinese players defeated Indonesia
3-0.
Neither sixth-ranked Ma Long nor eighth-ranked Chen Qi broke
sweat to brush aside their Indonesian rivals in straight sets.
Top-ranked Ma Lin, however, appeared unsettled from the start,
winning the first set by a narrow margin and enabling Reno Handoyo
of Indonesia to take a 8-5 lead in the second set.
Cheered on by the home crowd, Ma soon gained momentum to finish
off his rival 3-0.
In non-Chinese action, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
overpowered Singapore 3-1 in the men's team, while Hong Kong
trounced Malaysia by three sets to love in the women's team.
Japan also got off to a strong start, beating Cambodia in the
men's team and Indonesia and Chinese Taipei in the women's
team.
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2007)