Yu Yanhong's brilliant solo home run earned China a lop-sided 7-1 victory over Venezuela at the Beijing Olympic softball tournament on Wednesday.

Yu's one-run homer in the sixth inning gifted China the consecutive second victory and smashed the Olympic newcomer's dream to make a splash on international softball's biggest stage.

Chinese batters wasted no time to take a lead, breaking the deadlock in the top of the first inning.

Veteran short stop Li Chunxia's single hit blasted over the left fielder's head to clear the base paths for Yu Yanhong to run for the opening.

Designated hitter Xin Minhong's double in the third inning set off Yu to edge the lead to 2-0.

China's coach Wang Lihong rested the staring pitcher Lu Wei before the fourth inning ended as Captain Lu was still not in her best from today, allowing six hits, one run but only retiring one batter.

Reliefer Yu Huiyi took good care of the following innings, surrendering no hits in her three innings and making three strikeouts.

The Venezuelan's sole point came in the second half of the fourth inning as Zuleyma Cirimele's single hit drove teammate home to avoid a blank.

A hot batting Li stabilized the host's nerves in fifth as the right-handed shotstop hit one run and run home respectively before her teammate achieved one more run to give the Chinese a decisive 5-1 lead.

"The opponent is much stronger today and the turning point lies in the fifth inning," said the 31-year-old Li Chunxia, who had Athens Olympic experience and would retire after the Beijing Games.

"I played much better today as our form is being improved game after game." she added.

Yu Yanhong's brilliant solo homer in the sixth inning flied over the center field fence and added one more run for China. And the speedy Sun Li stole the second base in the closing inning and raced home to achieve the final run.

It was China's second game of the tournament after they thrashed the Netherlands 10-2 on Tuesday.

Source:Xinhua