Zhang Yanqing tossed a four-hitter and China rallied for three runs in the fifth inning Wednesday fora 6-2 victory over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the softball tournament at the 14th Asian Games.
Zhang went the distance in the preliminary match at Gudeok Stadium while giving up only one walk as defending champion China improved to 2-1 in the six-team tournament.
DPR Korea, which upset Chinese Taipei 2-1 Tuesday but lost to Japan 1-0 in its opening game, continues to struggle on offense.
DPR Korea took an early 2-0 lead after two innings but Zhang shut the DPR Korean batters down the rest of the way.
Outfielder Zhang Chunfang went 3-for-4 and drove in a run to lead China's attack. Wei Qiang and Wang Xiaoyan also drove in a run each for China, which took advantage of three DPR Korean errors.
Later Wednesday, Chinese Taipei will face the Philippines.
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2002)
