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)
