Host China tasted a defeat in their Olympic debut, conceding 33-19 to Poland, runner-up of the 2007 World Champinship, at the Beijing Olympic men's handball tournament in Beijing on Sunday.

Right winger Wang Xiaolong scored the opening goal in the fifth minute, a landmark for the Chinese men's handball squad in the Olympic history.

"I feel very excited and lucky at the moment, because I am the first man to score in an Olympic handball match. We finally have our Olympic dream come true," said the 18-year-old Wang. Being the youngest men handballer in the Beijing Games, Wang will celebrate his 19th birthday after a week.

However, Poland did enjoy a flying return after being absent from the Olympics for 28 years.

As the bronze medalist in the 1976 Montreal Games, Poland led a 6-1 run eight minutes into the first half. They kept passing through China's leaking defence and snatched 21 points before the break.

China changed their defending tactics in the second half, lessening Poland's scores to twelve. However, the inexperienced team still had trouble cracking the opponents' solid defence, only netting 19 times in their first Olympic show.

"I am pleased with our players. Poland is a world-class team. We have little chance to win. But our players fought with their own style and they did make some trouble to Poland," said Chinese coach Yan Weiming in a post match conference.

Being a minnow in the handball world, China only got their Olympic ticket as the host. They will face another European powerhouse France in the next match.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2008)