The Chinese took control of the competition in the Polish capital after the swimming event and never relinquished their lead to finish ahead of silver medallists Katsiaryna Arol and Anastasiya Prokopenko of Belarus and Italians Lavinia Bonessio and Camilla Lontano, who claimed bronze.

The Belarusians had set down an early marker by topping the fencing competition with 19 wins with the Chinese and Italian duos joint second.

Despite finishing only fourth in the swimming discipline, Chen and Liang moved top of the overall standings as Arol and Prokopenko only managed the tenth fastest time in the pool.

Chen and Liang tightened their grip on the gold medal place following an impressive riding performance, giving a 10 second lead going into the final combined running and shooting discipline.

A total of 611 points saw Germany's Lena Schoneborn and Annika Schleu top the combined event scoring but a second place finish for the Chinese was enough to hand them the world title.

A superb showing by Arol in the shooting competition against Lontano gave her compatriot Prokopenko a big advantage on the changeover and Bonessio was unable to reel in her Belarusian rival.

The women's team relay has got the World Championships underway at the Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw ©Facebook



"Today with my teammate we tried our best and we're really really happy with our performance and the result," said Chen.

"In a few days we will compete in the individual competitions so we are looking forward to that and will also be trying our best to pick up another medal."

Tomorrow will see the men's team relay competition take place at the Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education.

"I think we have had a great first day of competition and also the weather was with us, which helps greatly," said International Modern Pentathlon Union President Dr Klaus Schormann.

"Today the athletes performed to the highest level and I am delighted to see the winners revelling in their achievements.

"It has been a great start to these World Championships and I wish all of our athletes the best of luck going into their individual competitions and the mixed relay."

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