BUDAPEST, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Fan Zhendong and Ding Ning, top seeds in the men's and women's singles respectively, crushed their American rivals in straight sets in their mixed doubles opener at the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday.
The Chinese duo hardly broke a sweat in their first preliminary game, beating Nikhil Kumar and Lili Zhang 11-5, 11-8, 11-3.
"I felt good today," said Fan. "I have got used to the stadium and played a normal game."
Ding Ning, three-time world singles gold medalist and Olympic champion, said she would take one step at a time.
"I will be getting into my top form game by game," she said, adding that she had never paired up with Fan in major events.
Unlike Ding, Fan is still chasing an elusive major singles title.
"I hope I can win big this time," said the 22-year-old, singles runner-up to teammate Ma Long in the 2017 world championships.
Fan is expected to take on Ma in the singles semifinals while Ding will very likely fight for a final berth against fellow Chinese Liu Shiwen, who finished second to Ding in the 2015 final.
