Teenager Chao Jiaming delighted the home crowd at the ITTF Australian Open by upsetting number 13 seed Lin Po-Hsuan at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre ©ITTF/Ivy Hla

Teenager Chao Jiaming delighted the home crowd at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Australian Open by upsetting number 13 seed Lin Po-Hsuan at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

The unranked 18-year-old overcame her Taiwanese opponent 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-2, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9 to join Jian Fang Lay and Miao Miao, Australia’s most seasoned players, in the second round.

Number 14 seed Miao, 35, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Chia-Yun 3-11, 11-8, 5-11, 15-13, 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, while number eight seed Lay beat New Zealand’s Ruofei Rao 11-4, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9.

The trio were the only Australians to survive with Melissa Tapper, Kai Peng and Fiona Zhu all suffering losses at the hands of Japanese backspin players. 

Tapper was beaten by top seed Hitomi Sato 1-11, 2-11, 5-11, 4-11, while Peng suffered a 2-11, 8-11, 5-11, 6-11 defeat at the hands of number four seed Yuka Ishigaki and Zhu lost 5-11, 7-11, 10-12, 6-11 against number six seed Honoka Hashimoto.

There was further success for Japan at the expense of Australia as number two seed Miyu Kato overcame Sarah Tan 11-4, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5, number three seed Hina Hayata defeated Meng Ying 11-1, 11-3, 11-3, 11-1 and number seven seed Sakura Mori ended the hopes of Marsha Guseva with an 11-3, 11-6, 11-1, 11-4 win.

Australia's Heming Hu suffered a surprise first-round defeat in the men's draw
Australia's Heming Hu suffered a surprise first-round defeat in the men's draw ©ITTF/Ivy Hla

In the first round of the men’s draw, home favourites Heming Hu and Chris Yan Xin experienced differing fortunes as they continued their preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Hu, the number 15 seed, suffered an unexpected 10-12, 11-5, 6-11, 3-11, 6-11 defeat against Japanese qualifier Masaki Takami.

Meanwhile, Yan recorded an impressive 11-6, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 victory over fellow Australian Sithichok Vipawatanakul to reserve his place in the second round.

There were two other first-round successes for Australia with 18-year-old Dominic Huang, the country’s top rated junior player, coming from behind to beat France's Stéphane Payet 7-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-3, 11-6 and Trent Carter accounting for Panama’s Omer Avi-Tal with an 11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7, 11-1 victory.

Singapore’s Li Hu, the number two seed, beat Australia’s Gu Wenbin 11-4, 11-1, 11-5, 11-3, while compatriots Chen Feng, the number four seed, and Yang Zi, the number eight seed, defeated Vanuatu’s Yoshua Shing - 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 - and 15-year-old Australian Ben Gould - 11-4, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 - respectively.

Japan’s Mizuki Oikawa, the number five seed, ended the hopes of the host nation’s Skyy Luu, triumphing 11-1, 11-9, 11-1, 11-6.