Defending champions South Korea beat Hong Kong 21-7 as they opened their quest for a third Asian Games rugby sevens crown here Sunday while China looked ominous in their 41-0 demolition of India.
China are gunning for a gold medal in their second appearance in Asian Games rugby and coach Zheng Hongjun said he believes his side had a good chance of the title.
"We played pretty well," he said. "It won't be good enough to win the tournament but we can step up a level."
He said the Chinese are fitter, faster and better trained than four years ago when they first competed in the rugby tournament and finished out of the medals.
They scored seven tries with 22-year-old flyer Li Yang scoring a hat-trick against the hapless Indians who are making their debut in Asian Games rugby.
The tournament is divided into three groups of three teams and only the three group winners, accompanied by the best runner up from the remaining six teams, qualify for the semi-finals on Monday.
Hong Kong's defeat in Pool A to South korea is almost certain to cost them a place in the last four unless they can convincingly beat the other pool team Thailand in their next match.
Pool B is made up of China, India and Sri Lanka with Pool C comprising Taiwan, Japan and Qatar.
Taiwan opened their campaign with a merciless 82-0 defeat of rugby rookies Qatar running in 12 tries.
"We missed too many opportunities against South Korea," said Hong Kong's Kiwi coach Rod McIntosh, a former Hong Kong International. "We threw it away."
South Korea won the title when rugby was first introduced as an Asian Games sport in 1998 and reclaimed it in Busan four years later when the 15-a-side version was also played.
Now only the abbreviated, and faster, seven-a-side version has been retained and South Korea manager Song No-Il admitted that they are facing tougher odds this time around.
"China have improved and Taiwan and Japan are strong," he said. "We will have to play better than this to win against China."
Japan, Asia's rugby powerhouse, have never enjoyed success at the Asiad whose strict nationality rules prevent them from fielding their key overseas players.