Flying start for Chinese table tennis in Rio 2016, top Japanese girl ousted

Ding Ning of China plays against Elizabeta Samara of Romania during their table tennis women's singles match at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

RIO DE JANEIRO - Table tennis powerhouse China opened their Rio Olympic journey in style on Sunday with both Ding Ning and Ma Long winning in straight sets, while Japan's top woman Kasumi Ishikawa and Chinese Taipei's number one Chuang Chih-Yuan suffered third round exits.

World No 2 women's singles player Ding came back from trailing 6-0 in the second set to overcome the mid-way thriller, before wrapping up a 11-5, 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 victory over Romania's world No 29 Elizabeth Samara in just 11 minutes.

"I'm a little bit nervous since it's my opening game," said the 26-year-old top seed, who lost to fellow Chinese Li Xiaoxia in the women's singles final of London 2012.

"But I'm quite satisfied with my following performance, especially that I kept calm when my opponent caught a double of edge balls to improve from 4-0 to 6-0.

"I've prepared to face any unexpected situations since anything is possible on court," said the 2011 and 2015 world champion, who collapsed after penalized for serving four years ago in the Olympic final.

Ding will next play Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong, China, in the fourth round after the latter ousted Georgina Potaof Hungary 4-2 on Sunday evening.