China's hopes of a clean sweep of Olympic table tennis titles took a knock in a mixed day of competition. Chinese second seeds Linghui Kong and Wang Hao crashed out of the men's doubles, falling to Swedish veterans Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson.
Waldner then came back to the table to oust China's world number two Ma Lin in the men's singles.
But men's top seed Wang Liqin and his female counterpart Zhang Yining faired better, reaching the quarter-finals.
Zhang looked confident as she took just 25 minutes to seal a 4-1 win over Hong Kong's Lau Sui Fei.
World number one Wang Liqin comfortably defeated South Korea's Joo Sae Hyuk by the same scoreline.
 |  We aren't satisfied with our performances so far |
China's top-seeded pair of Ma and Chen Qi defeated Dutchmen Danny Heister and Trinko Keen 4-2 in the men's doubles. In the women's event, Niu Jianfeng and Guo Yue came through a close match against Japan's Ai Fujinuma and Aya Umemura.
But Niu tumbled out of the women's singles as she was upset by North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi.
And she insisted the Chinese squad are not living up to their fearsome reputation.
"We aren't satisfied with our performance so far," said Niu.
Sweden's Waldner believes the pressure on the Chinese team could affect their performance.
"We are not favourites so it's easier to play them," said the Barcelona Games gold medallist.
"When we play against the Chinese, they have everything to lose."
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
The defining images