The world number three Australia proved their supremacy with two wins on the first day of the China Bank Cup International Women's Fast Pitch Tournament in Beijing on Tuesday while Canada beat hosts China 5-2.
As the bronze medal winner of last year's world championships, Australia breezed past Chinese Taipei 9-4 with 13 base hits in the afternoon and Canada 2-0 with eight hits in the evening.
In the opener in the morning, China made a 2-2 comeback in the sixth inning before Canadian Caitlin Lever and Melanie Matthews hit three runs to finish 5-2 with eight hits while China only had four.
Lori Sippel, head coach of the Canada, said: "We are a little rust early on the game. We have some key hits for show and have some shining stars, like Caitlin and Melanie. They came up big two times."
China head coach Wang Lihong was also satisfied with her young players. "They were nervous at the beginning. They played hard but their batting average was not so good. It's pity that we barely had any base hit until the sixth inning."
On Wednesday, China will play Chinese Taipei, Canada meet Chinese Taipei and Australia take on China.
The tournament, which is served as a test event of the technical system at the venue for the next year's Olympic Games, will run through October 9 to 14.
(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2007)