Olympics | China's top seeded paddlers kick off Olympic singles campaign with victories

PARIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin, the top seeds in the women's and men's singles table tennis at Paris 2024, began their singles campaign on Sunday at the South Paris Arena 4 with two victories.

Sun, a 23-year-old who won one gold medal and one silver medal at Tokyo 2020, left no chance for her opponent Giulia Takahashi of Brazil, wrapping the game up in four straight sets 11-3, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 in about 30 minutes.

"Thanks to the mixed doubles match yesterday, I've been familiar with the games here. I feel I delivered a standard performance today," said Sun after the match.

On Saturday, Sun and Wang defeated an Egyptian pair in their mixed doubles debut of the Paris Games.

Sun expressed her gratitude for the support from Chinese fans in the stadium, "I'm grateful to those who had traveled from China to France to support us. We could feel it out there on court, and it's really nice for us athletes to enjoy such nice atmosphere."

Despite being beaten by the world No. 1, Takahashi felt content with her performance.

"I was so nervous before playing, especially facing Sun. But I'm so happy now, because I played well," she said. "I was afraid that I would be nervous and could not play what I know during the match. But I was relaxed, and it's amazing to be here."

Sun is set to play Ni Xia Lian, a 61-year-old veteran representing Luxembourg, in the round of 32. "To be able to play Auntie Ni is something to be really happy about. It's not going to be an easy match though," said Sun.

"Auntie Ni is a role model for many of us younger Chinese table tennis players. She carries on a strong athletic spirit. I will well prepare for the next match and enjoy the game," she added.

Wang Chuqin, a 24-year-old Olympic debutant, lost the first set in his maiden Olympic singles match but quickly fought back to beat Wang Yang, representing Slovakia, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-9, 11-4, to reach the round of 32.

Wang Chuqin will then face Truls Moregard of Sweden, a 22-year-old who rallied to beat Cedric Nuytinck of Belgium in four straight sets on Saturday.

Later on Sunday, Sun and Wang Chuqin will play Lin Yun-Ju and Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

"I will take a break for now to get ready for the mixed doubles match later. It's going to be a tough one. It's important for me to switch my focus on it," said Sun.

"We're into the quarterfinals now and everyone in the top eight are all strong. I'll just try to work well with Wang Chuqin and get ourselves into the semifinals," she added.