Wang sweeps teammate Zhou into men's second round at WTT US Smash

LOS ANGELES, June 28 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Wang Chuqin notched a straight-game victory over teammate Zhou Qihao to advance into the men's singles last 32 at the World Table Tennis United States Smash on Sunday.

Wang kicked off his title defense in emphatic fashion, surviving a tense second game in an 11-6, 15-13, 11-3 win, in his first match in more than one month after helping China win its 12th straight men's title at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in London.

Wang credited the win to mentality. "Win or loss, it won't go beyond your expectations when you play against a teammate, as the level of play is quite close. Coming into this match, I had a positive mindset and tried to figure out how I fared after a long time without playing any competitive matches," he said.

China's Lin Shidong and Chen Yuanyu also reached the men's singles last 32.

Lin sailed past South Korea's Park Gang-hyeon 11-5, 11-2, 11-6, while Chen dispatched host wild card Nandan Naresh 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4.

"Park played very well recently and his first three strokes and forehand are high-caliber, so I approached this match with a mindset of challenging him and tried to adjust my mentality," Lin said.

Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei became a standout victim in the main draw's opening day action, as the No. 7 seed lost in five games to teammate Kuo Guan-hong.

In women's singles, China's second seed Wang Manyu made little work of defeating 15-year-old U.S. player Irene Yeoh 11-5, 11-3, 11-4, and was joined by teammates Kuai Man and Shi Xunyao in the last 32.

"The first match against a young player was mainly about getting used to the venue," Wang said. "Competition and training venues are different, and I will face opponents with different style of play, so I need to make quick adjustments as the tournament progresses."

The two China-U.S. pairs were both eliminated in the first round, with Xue Fei and Kanak Jha losing to China's Yuan Licen and Wen Ruibo 3-1 in men's doubles, while Bosman Botha and Qin Yuxuan falling in three games to host duo Naresh and Jessica Reyes Lai. Enditem