Chinese men romp into table tennis second round

Defending champion and second seed Wang Liqin blasted away Chinese Taipei's Chiang Hung-Chieh 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, while Athens Olympic runner-up Wang Hao blanked Russian Igor Rubstov 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

Hou Yingchao, seen as a secret weapon by Chinese coaches, played a solid defensive² game to beat Poland's Bartosz Such 11-5, 11-8,11-2, 13-11.

Chen Qi and Hao Shuai also made it to the second round with straight-set victories.

China's Chen Qi serves against a Croatia's player during their 2nd round men's singles match at the World table tennis championships in Zagreb May 23, 2007.

Germany's Timo Boll, a major threat to China's attempt to sweep the board in the Zagreb championships, advanced with a 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 win over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

The third-seeded German tops China's "blacklist" of possible threats, which also included 2003 world champion Werner Schlager and Russian Alexei Smirnov, both eliminated on Tuesday.

Oh Sang Eun of South Korea and Vladimir Samsonov, seeded 5th and 6th respectively, also reached the second round.

Less known South Korean Lee Jung Sam eliminated local hero Zoran Primorac 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 13-11, taking out a big draw of the championships.

Lee, ranked 137th in the world, subdued³ No. 28 and former World Cup winner with better footwork and a stronger forehand.

Primorac, who had celebrated⁴ his 38th birthday early this month, didn't show a bit of his awesome⁵ form which made him a man to beat in the 1990s.

Home spectators shouted and beat drums to cheer Primorac up, but it seemed that the Croatian star had had enough of table tennis.

Lee uses a style very similar to Chinese world No. 1 Ma Lin, playing in penhold grip but attacking with both sides of racket.

In the women's first round, second seeded Chinese Wang Nan routed Canadian Zhang Mo 11-6, 11-8, 11-1, 11-6, and fourth seed Guo Yue beat 2004 Paralympic champion Natalia Partyka of Poland 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5.

Chinese Guo Yan, World Cup winner and third seed, crushed Bulgarian Katalina Gatinska 12-10,11-4,11-4,11-7.

Chinese national champion Peng Luyang and rising star Yao Yan also advanced to the second round without losing set.

Croatia's Tamara Boros, former European top player, used every ounce of her energy to outlast⁶ Slovenian Biljana Todorovic in seven sets.

Austrian Liu Jia and Dutchwoman Li Jiao, European champion in 2005 and 2007 respectively, both sailed into the second round.