Fan Zhendong will be tough to beat in Zhengzhou ©ITTF

Chinese table tennis world number one Fan Zhendong continued his dominance over Germany's Timo Boll at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals in Zhengzhou, China.

The 34th edition of the four-day flagship ITTF event is utilising ball-tracking technology (TTR) for the first time, while showcasing the best players in the world.

With four victories in the last two months, Fan was a huge favourite at Zhengzhou Olympic Sports Center and the match pretty much went to script.

Seeded two at this event, Fan was never in serious trouble, coming through 11-5, 18-16, 12-10, 11-7.

The same couldn't be said for number one seed Xu Xin, also from China, who was drawn against compatriot Zhao Zihao.

Zhao took a two-game lead (11-5, 11-8), with the crucial third game going to Xu (12-10).

The world number two then won the last three games (11-7, 11-8, 11-4) to progress to the quarter-finals.

The other two games in the first round were straightforward, with China's Liang Jingkun cruising through 4-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-8, 11-1) against Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting.

Chinese Taipei's Lin Yun-ju also dominated Sweden's Mattias Falck 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9).

In the women's competition it was a bad day for 2016 champion Zhu Yuling of China.

Zhu was outplayed by compatriot Wang Manyu, who won 4-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6).

China's Lie Shiwen has a strong affinity with this event, having won it three times previously (2011, 2012 and 2013), and started in impressive fashion.

Her first-round opponent, Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa, battled hard before losing 11-7, 14-12, 11-7, 11-9.

The other two winners in the later matches were Wang Yidi of China, over Japanese Miu Hirano, 4-0, and her compatriot Hitomi Sato over China's Ding Ning, 4-2.

The rest of the first-round matches continue tomorrow, before the quarter-finals get underway.