Top Chinese paddler Wang Hao survived a scare against Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece in the opening day of table tennis men's team preliminaries at the Olympic Games on Wednesday.

Although the formidable Chinese team pocketed a 3-0 victory, the 18-ranked Kreanga played a close game against World Cup champion Wang and was edged out 1-3.

Kreanga mounted tough challenge against Wang from the begining but did not succeed in outlasting the 24-year-old who take the first two sets 11-9, 11-9.

Wang, who has been the world number one for nine straight months, did not fend off a fired-up Kreanga who came back strong to dominate the third set 11-8.

Wang managed to hold his nerves in the fourth set before winning 11-9.

In the opening tie, Ma Lin thrashed Panagiotis Gionis 11-5, 11-5, 11-3.

On the heels of Wang's victory, Wang Liqin/Wang Hao demolished Ntaniel Tsiokas/Panagiotis Gionis 3-1 and rounded off the whole match 3-0.

The table tennis tournament, held in the 8,000-seat stadium in Peking University, is scheduled to last 11 days starting from Aug. 13.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)