China has lost both of its opening-day singles matches to Uzbekistan in the first-round clash of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I playoffs on Friday.

Sun Peng was beaten 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 by Denis Istomin in the opening match of the best-of-five contest before Wang Yu fell 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 to Farrukh Dustov.

Chinese pair Yu Xinyuan and Zeng Shaoxuan will take to the court in doubles match on Saturday, followed by reverse singles scheduled for Sunday.

In other Group I play-offs, India and South Korea were each held to a 1-1 draw by their rivals, while Thailand took a 2-0 lead over Japan.

(CRI April 8, 2006)