Chinese athletes enjoyed strong starts in soccer, table tennis and Badminton on November 30, one day before the 15th Asian Games officially kick off in Doha, Qatar.

In their first preliminary group match, Chinese women footballers trounced their Thai counterparts 7-0, highlighted by striker Han Duan's hat trick. Center back Yuan Fan also contributed two goals in the mismatched game.

However, China's victory was eclipsed by Japan's, who now lead group A on points and goal difference after their 13–0 obliteration of Jordan.

In group B, North Korea, another gold-medal hopeful in the women's football, crushed Vietnam 5-0.

In table tennis, China cruised past Japan in the women's team quarter-finals with a 3-0 victory, while Singapore, North and South Korea also qualified for the next round. In the men's quarterfinals, favorites China faced Qatar and saw off the host nation 3–0.

The star-studded Chinese badminton team also clinched victories in both team competitions on Thursday.

Spearheaded by World No. 1 Lin Dan, the Chinese men's team dismissed the amateur Indian squad 5-0 while the Chinese women's team matched them, beating Malaysia 5-0.

Chinese Taipei followed China's example and overwhelmed Vietnam 3–0.

The most exciting encounter in the evening was the duel that ebbed and flowed between Hong Kong and Japan – going to the death with Hong Kong edging through after five sets.

In men's basketball, defending champion South Korea and Qatar both picked up easy wins in the opening matches of the second-round competitions.

Group A clashes saw South Korea downed Bahrain 106-80 in the, and host Qatar grabbed a 99-59 victory over Syria.

(CRI and Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)