Top seeds Zhang Ying and Ji Linjun started strongly at the 2007 FIVB beach volleyball women's challenger as they won an easy all-Chinese match 21-6, 21-15 on Monday.
The newly-paired combination only met some real resistance in the second set before claiming the Pool A opener over fellow-Chinese Shen Rongrong/ Guo Qian in just 32 minutes.
Another Chinese pair of Zhang Dan and Ma Yuanyuan also drew the first blood in a Pool C match as they defeated Kamoltip Kulna/Yupa Puklongploy of Thailand.
The home crowd also paid tribute to Sun Bing and Wei Zhaochen from China, who fought from one set down to beat Anouk Boileau/Marie-Christine Mondor of Canada 12-21, 21-15, 15-6 in 54 minutes.
Chinese youngsters Yue Yuan and Zhang Wenwen became the only home casualty during the day session as they lost to Malaysia's Luk Teck Hua/Beh Shun Thing after a thrilling third set.
The tounament, serving as a test event for the Beijing Olympics, features 24 teams which were divided into six pools in the 38-match prelininary phase. Host China has fielded seven teams altogether.
The top two teams from each pool will advance automatically to the 16-team final phase, with the two best third-ranked teams and two lucky-loser sides. In total 54 matches will be played, including 16 in the final phase.
The challenger starts Monday and runs until Sunday, and a total of 50,000 US dollars will be paid as prize money, with the champion winning 9,000 US dollars.
Source: Xinhua
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