Johnny Zhang Zhiqiang scored 20 points, including a brace of tries, as China defeated India 50-15 in an entertaining Pool C encounter at the Asian Championship at King's Park last night. China's fullback Zhang was in imperious form as he led his country to victory over India in the Bowl competition. Zhang recovered from an early lapse - failing to correctly judge a high ball and allowing his opposite number Francis Brown to open scoring and give India a shock 5-0 lead - to engineer China's eight-try victory. India, who were seeking their first ever win at the Asian Championship, added two more tries in the first half which ended with them trailing 15-19. But two quick tries from Chinese scrum-half Xu Hui soon after the break doused Indian hopes and flagging legs gave China a comfortable win in the end. 'It was an encouraging result for us. We could have led China at the end of the first half but we failed to convert all our three tries. But I was pleased with the way the guys played. It bodes well for Saturday when we take on Pakistan. I'm very confident we will beat them,'' said Pramod Khanna, president of the Indian Rugby Football Union. India are appearing in their third Asian Championship. They first played in 1998, a year after China joined the Asian rugby family and became members of the International Rugby Board. 'It is just amazing to see the world's two most populous countries battling it out against each other on the rugby field. Just imagine if, and when, rugby becomes prominent in both countries,'' said Jarrad Gallagher, IRB regional development manager for Asia, last night. Meanwhile, debutants Pakistan were beaten 75-3 by Sri Lanka in the earlier game. The fleet-footed Sri Lankan backs, aided by their powerful forwards, ran in 11 tries as they easily disposed off the newcomers to Asian rugby. Pakistan's solitary points were scored midway through the second half when sub Fauzan Wain kicked over a penalty. Pakistan will meet India in the losers' tie in the Bowl competition, while Sri Lanka will take on China for the major honours on Saturday.
