The Chinese heavyweights were made to sweat in the three-set clash in which Wang Liqin and Ma Lin steadied themselves to overcome the charges of  the Australian.

World number one Wang Hao started the match with an easy triumph over  Kyle Davis 11-8, 11-7, 11-4.

But the winning tide was reserved when Wang Liqin trailed William  Henzell by one game.

Encouraged by the fervent home crowd, Wang stepped up to take the next three games and won 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.

The tiebreaker saw off a strong attempt from David Zalcberg/William  Henzell to win, but their painstaking efforts were shut off by Ma Lin/Wang Liqin 11-9, 12-10, 11-6.

On Wednesday, Wang Hao survived a scare against Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece in the first round of the preliminaries. The 18-ranked Kreanga played a close game against World Cup champion Wang and was edged out 1-3.  The Chinese men finally crashed the dogged Greek 3-0.

The table tennis tournament, held in the 8,000-seat stadium in Peking University, is scheduled to last 11 days starting from August 13. The men's team event final will be held Monday following the women's final on Sunday.