In the women's competition, home favourites Li Qian, Xue Juan, Liu Jing top their group after registering impressive wins, while Croatian's Andela Muzinic and Helena Dretar head the other section in the class one-three category.

London 2102 bronze medallists Jane Campbell and Sara Head of Great Britain did not get off to an ideal start as they went down 3-1 to South Korea in the same class.

They will need to beat France and Croatia in tomorrow's action to ensure a semi-final berth.

Serbia's Borislava Peric-Rankovic, Nada Matic and Zorica Popadic, and Lee Ya-Chu and Lu Pi-Chun of Chinese Taipei lead the way in class four, while Zhang Bian and Zhang Miao of China and Sweden's Anna-Carin Ahlquist and Ingela Lundbäck remain unbeaten in class five.

Natalia Partyka ensured Poland got off to a perfect start in class nine-10 as she recorded two individual wins over The Netherlands Kelly Van Zon and Danielle de Jong on the way to a 3-1 win.

In class six-eight, French duo Thu Kamkasomphu and Anne Barneoud and Chinese pair Mao Jingdian and Pan Mengyi remain unbeaten and look like the strongest contenders for gold.

Natalia Partyka helped Poland to get off to a perfect start in team competition against The Netherlands ©ITTF



On the men's side, fresh from winning individual gold yesterday, Britain's Will Bayley joined forces with Paul Karabardak to chase class six-seven honours.

The pair were up against Egypt's Rekik Eid and Ahmed Sayed Mohamed and a three sets win in the final singles match for Karabardak ensured the British duo got off to a winning start.

"It was very hard to play today," said Bayley.

"Yesterday was a hard day - I didn't have a lot of energy and didn't prepare well enough for this match and it showed.

"Sayed is world number six and Eid is awkward to play against.

"I think I'm a good match player - even if I'm not playing well I can still make it difficult for people and that's what I wanted to do against Sayed.

"I don't tend to lose many matches in the fifth and so I had a lot of belief going into the last set that I was going to win.

"I knew Paul could win that last match so I was really determined to give him the chance to win the tie for us."

The top two seeds in class six-seven also made winning starts as Ukraine's Maksym Nikolenko, Mykhaylo Popov and Viktor Karp, and lvaro Valera, Jordi Morales and Alberto Seoane of Spain recorded opening victories.

Jordi Morales and Alberto Seoane of Spain recorded an opening victory in the men's class six-seven category ©ITTF



China's Ye Chaoqun, Zhao Shuai and Sun Churen matched the efforts of Hungary's Andras Csonka and Gyula Zborai to see both top seeds remain unbeaten in class eight while it was a similar story for in class nine-10 as the leading three teams from China, Spain and Poland recorded wins.

Class one saw successful starts for South Koreans Lee Changho, Cho Jaekwan and Nan Kiwon, and Germany's Holger Nikelis and Marcus Sieger.

Class three's main contenders Fabien Lamirault and Stéphane Molliens of France and South Korea's Kim Mimhgyu, Kim Kyungmook and Cha Sooyoung enjoyed trouble free days.

Class 11's top seeds Son Byeongjun, Kim Gitae and Lee Byuongha of South Korea enjoyed success while class five big gins China, Turkey and France recorded wins.

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