German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder performed better as expected than conservative challenger Angela Merkel, a survey for German public channel ZDF said Sunday.

Among some 1,200 of those surveyed, 48 percent believed Schroeder is the winner of the debate while 28 percent said Merkel did better, ZDF said right after the end of debate.

Among Merkel's supporters, 54 percent said she did better than they had expected, while among Schroeder's supporters, 62 percent said he performed as normal as expected, according to the survey.

Another survey for private channel RTL also showed Schroeder is clearly the winner with 54 percent support.

Among the 2,000 surveyed right after the TV debate, 31 percent thought Merkel was ahead in the TV debate, the RTL poll showed.

Source: Xinhua