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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, March 11, 2002

Defending Champions Fall as Chinese 1st Division League Opens

The opening match and the first round competition featured losses suffered by last season's top four teams while the fifth and sixth placers of the past season came out winners, as the 2002 season unfolded for the Chinese first division soccer league at the weekend.


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The opening match and the first round competition featured losses suffered by last season's top four teams while the fifth and sixth placers of the past season came out winners, as the 2002 season unfolded for the Chinese first division soccer league at the weekend.

An inspiring 2-0 derby win over Shanghai Shenghua, runners-up last season, in the new season's opener in Shanghai on Saturday marked a good beginning for Shanghai Zhongyuan, which were elevated to the first division as last season's second division's winners.

Defending champions Dalian Shide lost 1-0 at home to Shenzhen Ping'an in the first round on Sunday, fifth at the end of last season, while Liaoning Bird, who finished third last season, lost by a sole goal away to Beijing Guo'an, eighth last season.

Ranked sixth last season, Shandong Luneng came back strong in the new season's opening round, beating Sichuan Dahe 3-1 on Sunday, who were fourth in the 2001 season.

In other first round matches played on Sunday, Tianjin Taida lost to Qingdao Hainiu 1-0, Sha'anxi Guoli lost to Yunnan Hongta 3- 2 and Shenyang Jinde played Chongqing Lifan to a scoreless draw.

After the six first-round matches on Sunday, Dalian Shide took the top spot of the league standings, with three points, followed by Shanghai Zhongyuan, Yunnan Hongta, Shenzhen Ping'an, Beijing Guo'an and Qingdao Hainiu, all with an identical score of three points.

Bayi Zhenbang, who finished 12th last season, had a bye in the opening round. This was the result of an odd total of 15 participating teams for the league, for the first time in the nine- year-old league history.





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