China won two gold medals at the World University Games on Thursday as sports action got into full swing after a grand opening ceremony.
A haul of three gold medals from taekwondo put South Korea atop the medals table at the end of Day One. China and Spain are in second and third places respectively.
Wang Jingzhi opened the gold account for China in Belgrade when he defeated Aliaksandr Buikevich of Belarus 15-14 in the men's saber final. Earlier, Wang knocked out teammate and reigning Olympic champion Zhong Man in the semifinals.
"Zhong and I are at the same level. I won because I was in better form today," Wang said after the competition.
Olympic champions Cheng Fei and Jiang Yuyuan proved a class above their opponents when they helped China win the women's gymnastics team title. The Chinese team, also including He Ning, Zhou Zhuoru and Liu Nanxi, scored a total of 169.15 points in vault, uneven bars, beam and floor exercise, exactly seven points more than second-placed Russia. The bronze medal went to DPR Korea.
Jiang said she was satisfied with their performance despite the comfortable victory. "Actually, we are not in top form as we've been reshaping since the Beijing Olympics," said the 18-year-old. "We need to work hard ahead of this year's National Games."
China also picked up two silver medals in taekwondo, where South Koreans were the biggest winners. Surprisingly, Spain snatched the other two golds contested in the martial art.
Poland also achieved a top-of-podium finish with Nelip Ewa's triumph in the women's epee.
Canada's women's soccer team came from one goal behind to edge China 2-1, but later, the Chinese avenged on the volleyball court with a 25-15, 25-18, 25-14 victory over Canada.
The Chinese women's basketball team were virtually out of the title contention after dropping their second group match, a 101-71 loss to the Czech Republic, and failing to reach the knock-out stage.
On the first day of the men's water polo tournament, Spain trounced China 22-1, while Greece beat Montenegro 6-3 in a hard-fought match.
Seven gold medals are up for grabs on Friday.
(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2009)
