As the world's top-ranked paddlers, Lin Shidong and Sun Yingsha of China both secured comfortable victories in their opening matches at the 34th ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup, which kicked off on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, Lin defeated Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong, China 11-7, 11-4, 11-3, while Sun eased past Chien Tung-chuan of Chinese Taipei 11-2, 11-8, 11-6.

Wang Manyu of China serves during the women's singles group 2 match against Lee Eunhye of South Korea at the 34th ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup table tennis tournament in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

"This is my maiden appearance at the Asian Cup, but Shenzhen is a city I am very familiar with, as I have played in the China Table Tennis Super League here for many years," said Sun. "I felt the support of the fans today. I hope to continue playing well in the following matches."

Elsewhere, the women's singles defending champion Wang Yidi of China, edged out Kim Nayeong of South Korea 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7. While the men's singles defending champion, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the 19-year-old Huang Youzheng of China.

Women's second-seeded Wang Manyu of China smashed Lee Eunhye of South Korea 11-6, 11-3, 11-5. While her compatriot and man's second-seeded Wang Chuqin, secured a narrow victory against Iran's world 53rd-ranked Noshad Alamiyan with a score of 14-12, 9-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7.

"I lost some points due to hesitation in this match, which put me 1-2 behind," Wang said. "I realized I needed to release the pressure and fight for victory while trailing in the fourth game. Thanks to all the fans who cheered me on."

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