Kuala Lumpur, May 11: A Red tide washed over England but opponents in Group B of the Thomas Cup would have caught a glimpse of a chink in the Great Wall.

All England and Swiss Open winner Xia Xuanze took command of the first singles and quickly finished off Colin Houghton, winning 15-2, 15-3 to put China in the lead.

But a 90-minute battle erupted in the first doubles between Zhang Jun-Yu Jinhao and Nathan Robertson-Simon Archer.

The Chinese won the first game 15-10, but wrong match application and eagerness cost the the second match. They lost marginally at 16-17.

In the end the Englishmen had the extras to take the deciding game at 15-13 to square the result at 1-1.

Japan Open winner Ji Xinpeng routed Darren Hall 15-7, 15-0 before Zhang Wei-Liu Yong gave China the winning point by ousting Chris Hunt-Julian Robertson 15-6, 15-8.

Malaysia Open winner Luo Yigang gave China the fourth point with an impressive 15-6, 15-7 win which China's chief coach Li Yonbo said he had expected.

"We fielded the strongest lineup today. The singles players played to expectation but the first doubles was a little dissapointing," he said.