China's only representative in the table tennis mixed doubles event at the Paris Olympics, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha denied an Egyptian pair in four straight sets on Saturday in the first-round competitions and reached the quarterfinals.

Wang and Sun, who are the world's No. 1 ranked mixed doubles pair and have won at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships, left no chance for their opponents Omar Assar/Dina Meshref of Egypt, wrapping the game up 11-7, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 in about 30 minutes.

"This is my first Olympic match experience, and I hope to be able to play in a good state and have a good process in the first game. So I really enjoyed the game today and was very focused on it," said Wang, an Olympic debutant, after the match.

"We communicated well today and were able to work well with each other," said Sun, who won one gold and one silver at Tokyo 2020. "Now that we're through to the quarterfinals, it'll be important for us to believe in each other out there so that we can do well."

Wang and Sun will next play Lin Yun-Ju/Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei on Sunday, who rallied to beat the French pair Alexis Lebrun/Yuan Jia Nan 4-2 later on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the second seeded Japanese pair Tomokazu Harimoto/Hina Hayata, who claimed silver medals at the World Championships in 2021 and 2023, was surprisingly beaten by Ri Jong-sik/Kim Kum-yong of DPR Korea 4-1.

After rounding up their own game, Wang and Sun watched the rest of the match between the Japanese and the DPR Korea's pairs on the court.

The mixed doubles made its debut on the Olympic stage at Tokyo 2020, with each association only eligible to place one pair in the event. In Tokyo, Japanese pair Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito bagged home the first ever Olympic gold medal in this event after overcoming Chinese paddlers Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen in the final.

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