Mainland's Liu knows first hand more will follow in his shoes

The ripple of applause was spontaneous when Liu Qiwen, China's first squash player, was introduced to his peers at the US$100,000 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open yesterday.

'Liu is the first man from the People's Republic of China to play in the Hong Kong Open, and with a population of 1.3 billion, a few more will follow him,' were the introductory words from tournament referee Bob Lloyd during the draw for the qualifying round at the Hong Kong Squash Centre.

The 22-year-old from Hubei province soon learned the first hard lessons on court when he was beaten in straight games by England's world number 36 Nick Matthew in the opening round of the qualifiers. But Liu was unfazed as this is just the start of a new journey.

'I have been playing squash for only six weeks and this is all a learning experience for me. I came to Hong Kong to watch how the top players play and hopefully I will learn something,' said Liu. He will be a keen spectator as the 32-strong main draw gets underway tomorrow with world number one Peter Nicol of England in action.

Sheffield-born Matthew, who had the honour of meeting the first mainlander to play in an international tournament, had nothing but complimentary words for Liu after his 15-7, 15-7, 15-7 victory. 'I guess he was nervous. But it is a good experience for him. He played well and moved well on court. I congratulated him afterwards. It is a big step and hopefully there will be more players from China soon,' said Matthew.

Liu's presence at the Open has come about thanks to the local governing body, Hong Kong Squash, who for the past three years has been helping its mainland counterpart set up a squash programme.