Tianjin, Liaoning and Chinese Army, three champion contenders of women's volleyball tournament at the 10th National Games, remained unbeatable in Thursday's games.

Tianjin, three-time champion of the Chinese first division league, welcomed an uneasy 3-1 victory over stubborn Shandong.

Despite facing more sterner test than expected against tall and towering opponents, Tianjin exhibited mighty fierce attacks, with three main spikers, namely, Li Juan, Zhang Ping and Yin Na, in lethal form piercing the rivals-defence with their devastating spikes.

"We took this match as a great opportunity to learn from the best team in the country and we do learn a lot from Tianjin in terms of defending, quickness and change," said Liu Xiaohong, Shandong's head coach.

Top title contender Liaoning powered to a straight-set win overerror-prone Zhejiang, nailing the No. 1 in the standings of Group A. Defending champion Chinese Army defended their honor with a straight-set win over Sichuan.

Shanghai put their bitter loss to Tianjin on Wednesday behind to seal a deserved straight-set 25-23, 25-20, 25-12 victory over Yunnan.

The tussle between the two young teams turned out to be a one-sided match. Despite of a slow start, Shanghai took control of the match with effective spiking and powerful serving.

"Our young players have tried their best, but the match exposedtheir weak mentality in face of tough rivals," said He Qi, head coach of Yunnan, which stunned Hebei on Wednesday.

Fujian head coach Hou Chundi praised his players after watchinghis team's win over Hebei 3-0.

"We played better today. After seeing my team lose to Shandong on Wednesday, I would like to see the tremendously-improved form from my players and they did it," he said.

Meanwhile, the hosts Jiangsu upset the aggressive Henan 3-1 before a large crowd of local fan. The latter started the match ingreat confidence after they stunned arch rival Sichuan 3-1 on Wednesday.

A total of 12 teams played preliminaries in two group with six in each pool. The group matches began on Wednesday in the cities of Zhenjiang and Jitan in eastern Jiangsu Province respectively. Top four-placed teams in each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.