Third-seeded Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen from China won their first match of women's doubles to cruise into the quarterfinals at Beijing International Badminton Tournament on Thursday.

 

The Athens Olympics gold medalist Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen beat their compatriots Fu Shanshan/Li Zhuming in two straight games at 21-6, 21-7 in 21 minutes.

 

Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen gave full play to their proficient cooperation and variation of shots to get a convincing victory 21-6 over their opponent in the first set with ease.

 

"Their speed was very fast and also had a solid defence which we couldn't penetrate. Besides, they had very good cooperation together and had many advantages for us to learn," said Fu Shanshan.

 

Under the pressure of the first set's loss, Fu Shanshan/Li Zhuming made some errors in cooperation and still couldn't find their pace of the match while Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen constantly penetrated the opponent's defense with powerful strikes, fast stabs and drop shots to take the second set at 21-7.

 

"The gymnasium here is excellent and once I played in the match it feels like in Athens. Though we won the match today but I still couldn't reach the levels when winning gold in 2004. Maybe I need some time to adjust to my best form," said Zhang Jiewen.

 

Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen had beaten Gao Ling/Huang Sui, winning women's doubles gold at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

 

On Friday, they will play Su Lan/Zhang Zhibo. If everything goes well, the veteran partner will set up a showcase with Chinese top seed Zhang Yawen/ Wei Yili in semifinals.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2007)