Chinese players followed an auspicious path towards the title of the 2007 FIVB beach volleyball women's challenger Monday as most of them hit top gear on the opening day of the test event for the Beijing Olympic Games.

 

All nine duos from China won five out of eight matches on Monday, including an all-Chinese clash in the morning.

 

Top seeds Zhang Ying and Ji Linjun opened strongly as they won over fellow-Chinese Shen Rongrong/Guo Qian in just 32 minutes at the US$50,000 event, where the preliminary matches were split into day session and night session.

 

The newly-paired combination only met some real resistance in the second set before claiming the Pool A opener 21-6, 21-15.

 

"It went smoothly in the first set, but the second got harder as our opponents became more relaxed and played their game," said Zhang, who scored 10 points with sizzling spike and blocked twice successfully in the match.

 

Chinese Li Yang/Hu Anna and Huang Ying/Hu Xiaoyan were among the winners during the night session, beating Kazuko Sugawara/Yuki Yanagawa of Japan 21-11, 23-21 and Camilla Nilsson/Rivia Oliveira of Sweden 21-17, 14-21, 15-12 apiece.

 

After a comfortable first set victory and a 8-3 cushion in the second set, Li and Hu lost rhythm and allowed their opponents to overtake the lead 14-11.

 

At 20-18, the Japanese played some sloppy game and squandered two set points before slumping to a 23-21 failure.

 

"I did not play my best in the second set. The injury had some impact on my performance. This has happened before, so I was able to wake up right away," said the 21-year-old Hu.

 

"We have been playing together for two years, so we know each other quite well and were able to find the way out."

 

Also winning in the night session were Swiss Isabelle Eusabeth Klara Forrer and Sarah Schmocker, who defeated Lin Xianling/Lin Donghe of China 21-19, 21-15.

 

The Chinese combination were once leading 5-3 in the second set, only allowed the Swiss pair to wrap up six points in a row to overtake the lead at 9-5. After that, the Swiss title contenders never looked back.

 

"I think all the teams are difficult to beat. We don't know much about the other teams, especially the Chinese teams. I know one of them (Zhang/Ji) is very strong but very little about the others," said Forrer, adding that making the semifinals at the event was their bottom line.

 

"We only began to play together this year, we don't have enough points (in the tour), so I don't think we stand a chance of making the Beijing Olympics next year, but we really enjoy playing the match here, it's fun and friendly," said the 23-year-old Schmocker, captain of the team.

 

Brazilian medal hopefuls Angela Vieira and Danielle da Conceicao Cunha Vivan got the better of Cao Na/Zhao Xiaolin of China 21-15, 21-15 in just 33 minutes.

 

Early Monday morning, another Chinese pair of Zhang Dan and Ma Yuanyuan drew the first blood in their Pool C action as they defeated Kamoltip Kulna/Yupa Puklongploy of Thailand 21-17, 21-18.

 

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 in the day session 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.

 

The tournament, held as a rehearsal for the Beijing Olympic beach volleyball event with real and tough competition running, features 24 teams competing in six pools.

 

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.

 

However, the top teams in the SWATCH-FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour have not appeared in the test event as they are all busy competing in Europe for qualifying points en route to the Beijing Olympics.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2007)