China's crew in the women's double sculls, the nation's biggest bet on a gold at Beijing Games, get off to a good start on Saturday, the first day of the Olympic rowing competition.

The Chinese won the heat to qualify straight through to the final to the cheering of home crowds.

The Chinese crew of Li Qin and Tian Liang finished the 2,000m course in 7 minutes 03.13 seconds, 0.79 seconds faster than 2004 Olympic champion Evers-Swindell twin sisters.

The New Zealand sisters won comfortably in another heat, making a strong come-back following a bad season marred with sickness and out-of-form.

The crew beat the twin sisters in last year's world championships to second place, and have become strong favorites for the doubles event after winning two world cup races in Munich and Lucerne this year.

Chinese women's single sculler Zhang Xiuyun also made a strong start after winning the heat in 7:38.16, the fastest among all 26 competitors in six heats. Her results were almost two seconds faster than two-time Olympic gold medalist Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus.

"I'm glad to compete in the Olympics after so many years, and I'll strive for a medal on the home field," said Zhang. She won a silver in the women's double sculls in Atlanta and missed the Games in Sdyney and Athens.

Karsten, who won the single event in Atlanta and Sydney and three world titles since 2005, said:" I'm not so confident now if my bid for a third Olympic gold will be successful, as my main rivals trained very hard."

New Zealander Mahe Drysdale, who won world titles since 2004, won the heat in 7:28.80 to enter quarterfinals. Favorites for the men's single sculls event Ondrej Synek of Czech, Lassi Karonen of Sweden, Alan Campbell of Britain also won the heats.

Britain's men's four, the Olympic champions in Sydney and Athens, won the heat in 6:00.59. Favorites Nethersland and Austrilia won another two heats.

Chinese women's pair Wu You and Gao Yulan, who won two world cups races this year, posted a disappointing third place in heat one and will have to fight through repechage for qualifications for final. Favorites Belarus and Romania crews won the two heats to qualify straight through to the final.

Favorites for the men's pair, France, Austrilia, and New Zealand won three heats, respectively. The Austrilian pair of Drew Ginn and Duncan Free posted the best results among all 14 competitors, and are aiming to successfully defend the title in Beijing.

Favorites from New Zealand, Britain, and Australia won the heats in the men's double sculls heats.

(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2008)