Chinese top shuttler Gong Ruina entered the second round of badminton women's singles Saturday in Athens, upsetting Li Li from Singapore in her tough first match with a straight 11-9 and 11-4 win.

"It was rather difficult for me in the first set, I kept adjusting my tactics and tried to find way out," said Gong, the 2001 World Champion, who seemed to wake up after 7-9 behind Li Li, who is ranked 28th in the world. Gong then had a streak of four points to stop Li from stealing the first set.

Gong admitted that the first match is always hard to play, however, "I am in better form than in the Uber Cup last May".

In another match, Ponsana Salakjit from Thailand beat Japanese shuttler Miho Tanaka 11-7, 5-11 and 11-8 in a 51-minute marathon match. She is to meet Gong in the round of 16.

Source: Xinhua