OSAKA -- China's Liu Guoliang faced little resistance from Lehel Demeter of Hungary on Tuesday as the World No. 5 successfully kicked off his bid to win back-to-back men's singles titles at the table tennis world championships in Osaka.
Liu, bronze medalist at last autumn's Sydney Olympics, brushed aside 226th-ranked Demeter 21-11, 21-15, 21-13, while compatriot and world No. 1 Wang Liqin defeated Singapore's Zhang Tai-yong 21-11, 21-9, 21-13 to set up a second-round meeting with Japan's Shinnosuke Kiho.
Kiho, ranked 123rd in the world, beat South Korea's Joo Se Hyuk 15-21, 21-14, 15-21, 21-14, 21-14 to join four other Japanese players in Wednesday's second round.
World No. 20 Seiko Iseki needed five games to oust Cai Xiao-li of Singapore 21-23, 21-15, 21-23, 21-17, 24-22 while there were also wins for Ryo Yuzawa, Toshio Tasaki and Koji Matsushita. Koji Sanada, however, failed to advance to the second round in after going down 17-21, 21-11, 21-16, 21-11 to Jaromir Truksa of Slovakia.