Manchester, England, yesterday.

Seeing their first major international action in a decade, Bermuda were blanked 3-0 by Wales in opening-round action.

The team are anchored by the Island's number one player Nick Frost but this is not Bermuda's strongest squad, with both Dexter Smith and Myron Piper having been forced to pull out. Smith was committed to the national cricket team which recently returned from Malaysia while Piper withdrew after suffering a leg injury.

Curtis Hodgson, Dave Waltham and Rawle Frederick round out Bermuda's entry in the team competition. Mike Lindo and Alden Ray will take part in the individual event next week.

Three of the world's top ten-ranked players were beaten yesterday. Ding Song, the world number seven from China, was upset 12-21, 21-12, 21-15 by Slovenia's Robert Smrekar before China recovered to win the match 3-1. Number four Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus and number eight Jean-Michel Saive of Belgium also lost. China are seeking to repeat their sweep of two singles, three doubles and two team titles they won two years ago.