Top seed Ding wins first battle in London

 LONDON, July 29 (Xinhua) -- China's top seed Ding Ning defeated Romania's Daniela Dodean 4-0 in her Olympic debut¹ on Sunday, marching toward the top of Olympic podium.

"This is my first match so I was a little bit nervous, especially when I entered the arena². But I soon managed to control myself after the match started," said Ding, who achieved her first victory within 27 minutes.

Ding closed the first two sets quickly, winning 11-4 and 11-3. Dodean got the upper hand briefly³ in the third set. The two tied four times and Ding finished the set in 11-9. The fourth set ended in 11-6.

Ding said Dodean changed her strategy after losing two sets and she was a little slow in coping with Dodean's changes. "But it's quite normal so I wasn't worried."

Even though the result was not something unexpected, Dodean said she was disappointed for not having won one or two sets.

"It was difficult. I was hoping it would be tough for her because it was her first game, but it wasn't. But I am pleased I received her serve well. We had some matches before and I didn't do so well. I am happy about that."

Born in 1990, Ding won the women's singles title at both last year's World Championships and the World Cup. Current world No. 1, she is seen as China's best shot at gold in women's singles in London.

Ding's next opponent is Hong Kong's Jiang Huajun, world No. 20. Jiang, 28, was a former member of China's national table tennis team.

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

3 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。