Chinese paddlers eased past their first round hurdles as the main draw of the world table tennis championships kicked off in Shanghai on Sunday.

World number one Wang Liqin served his townees a wonderful aperitif after the Shanghai native wrapped up his singles opener 4-1.

Indian qualifier Achanta Sharath Kamal ruined the otherwise perfect first round performance of the former world champion in 2001, coming back to win the third set 11-9 after losing 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 in the first three.

Wang, one of the hottest favorites here to win back for China the Saint Bride Cup claimed by Austrian Werner Schlager in Paris in 2003, quickly overcame a sluggish start and came back to win the decider 11-8 to set up a second round meeting with the winner between DPR Korean Pak Won Chol and Bartosz Such of Poland.

"I did not show my best game tonight, and neither had I done enough preparations before facing the unfamiliar rival," said Wang, who earlier the night played a lackluster doubles match with Olympic gold winning partner Yan Sen.

Table tennis "Grand Slam" winner Kong Linghui swept Peter Sereda from Slovakia 4-0 in another men's singles first round clash, while 21-year-old Chinese Chen Qi overwhelmed Spaniard Carlos Machado in straight sets.

Coming off a two-week shoulder injury lay-off, Olympic and world champion Zhang Yining didn't show any signs of rust as she crushed Columbian qualifier Paula Medina 11-2, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 in the women's singles first round.

"I was a little bit nervous in front of the sell-out crowds, but I wanted to show them my best game," said Zhang after the match.

"I didn't feel any hurt from my injury. But today is the first day of the tournament, I will meet stronger rivals in the next few days and I need to be 100 persent fit," added the 23-year-old girl.

World No.4 Tamara Boros of Croatia and six-seeded Li Jiawei of Singapore also emerged comfortable first round winners. Boros trounced Austria's Veronika Heine 4-0, while Li whitewashed Helena Halas of Slovenia 4-0.

Earlier in the day, Zhang and her parter Wang Nan claimed victory in the doubles, beating Helena Halas/Biijana Todorovic of Slovenia 4-0. Another Chinese golden pair Guo Yue/Niu Jianfeng dropped one set in their 4-1 victory over Lenka Kmotorkova/Eva Odorova of Slovakia.

In men's doubles, Athens Olympic gold medalists Ma Lin/Chen Qi and Kong Linghui/Wang Hao, who were ousted in the first round in Athens, breezed into the second round with 4-1 victories, while Yan Sen/Wang Liqin stumbled to win 4-3.

Chinese doubles expert Yan Sen nearly spoiled his world championships return from injury, trailing 3-2 before the defending champion, pairing with Wang, rallied to defeat Indonesian David Jacobs and Yon Mardiono in seven sets.

The golden duo, Olympic men's doubles gold medalists in Sydney in 2000, got the jitters in their doubles opener and had to come from 1-3 down for a hard-earned victory.

"I'm intimated by the tense of the game since I've been missing so many big games on international level," said Yan, who broke his left arm in a traffic accident in late 2003 and missed last August's Olympic Games in Athens.

"It's better for them to play some tough table tennis in the earlier stage," said coach Shi Zhihao. "Yan needs time to find his touch after more than one year's absence from competition, but I can assure you that it won't take long."