World No. 1 Ding leads five Chinese through to second round

DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 31 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Ding Ning led five Chinese women players to the second round at the World Table Tennis Championships without losing a single game here on Wednesday.

Ding, also the defending champion and Olympic gold medal winner, breezed past Daria Trigolos of Belarus 11-4, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 while second seed Liu Shiwen defeated Spain's Airi Avameri 11-2, 22-1, 11-3, 11-5.

Third seed Zhu Yuling beat another Spaniard Vlaeria Petrova, fifth seed Chen Meng routed Russia's Mariia Tailakova and quarlifier Mu Zi crushed Ganna Gaponova of Ukraine.

"I just want to feel the atmosphere because in the first few matches I don't think there will be strong opponents," said Ding.

Ding, the only Chinese player drawn in the top half, will have to fight Japan's newly-crowned Asian champion Miu Hirano, Singapore's Feng Tianwei and Dutchwoman Li Jie in later stages.

"The pressure is definitely there, but I need to be prepared for every match," Ding said.

Japan's 17-year-old sensation Hirano, who shocked three Chinese players to win the Asian crown last month, also scored a straight-set victory over Nigeria's Olufunke Oshonaike.

World No. four Feng defeated Russia's Olga Vorobeva and Japanese No. 1 Kasumi Ishikawa ousted Brazil's Caroline Kumahara.