Top seeds Zhang Ying and Ji Linjun started strongly at the 2007 FIVB beach volleyball women's challenger as they won an 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 as they lost to Malaysia's Luk Teck Hua/Beh Shun Thing after a thrilling third set.
"At the beginning, we were a little bit nervous, and made some mistakes. Later on, after talking with my teammate, we were more relaxed," said the 19-year-old Yue.
"We are very sorry about the loss, but we still have a chance and will give our best in the next game," added the girl after the 21-17, 19-21 and 15-13 match.
Zhang and Ji, who led six other Chinese pairs to fight at the 50,000 US dollars event, enjoyed a comfortable opening match.
"It went smoothly in the first set, but the second got harder as our opponents became more relaxed and played their game," said Zhang Ying, who scored 10 points with sizzling spike and blocked twice successfully in the match.
"I enjoyed a couple of tours with my new partner (Ji Linjun), but we still have some weak points. We'll put our best effort into the tournament," said Zhang, who is turning 24 on August 15.
"I'm not really thinking about something special for my birthday. I'm focused on this tournament."
The day session on Monday also saw Barbara Ifejika Carson/Line Jomphe of Canada beat Cheng Mei Ling/Chan Shui Shum of Hongkong, China 21-7, 21-14 and Mari-Liis Graumann/Natalja Bratuhhina of Estonia claim a 21-12, 21-14 victory over Manokharan Iswari/Luk Teng Kee of Malaysia.
To simulate the time schedule of the 2008 Olympic Games beach volleyball tournament, the preliminary matches of the event will be split into a day session and a night session, with some matches to be played as late as 11p.m. local time.
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.
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 started on Aug. 13 through to 19, 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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