TIANJIN, North China, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Host China got off to a winning start after crushing India 121-49 in the first match at Asia Men's Basketball Championship while defending champion Iran stumbled along to defeat Chinese Taipei 71-67 here on Thursday.

    The winning margin of 72 points set a new record between China and India. China defeated India by 55 points in 2003 Asian Championship.

    With an eye on the preparations for Beijing Olympics, China fielded a second string team and only finished 10th at last edition in Japan, 2007.

    Seeking to regain their top place in Asia, China asserted their dominance early only grow to turn more aggressive as the match progressed. The host team scored the first eight points and built their lead to a whopping 36-11 after the first quarter, while seven of India's 11 points were coming from the free-throw line.

    National team freshman Su Wei, who put on injured NBA star Yao Ming's No.13 jersey, came off the bench for a game-high 16 points and New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian also had 16 points, resting himself during the entire final quarter.

    Du Feng, who also did not start, got 14 points while seasoned campaigner Wang Zhizhi collected seven rebounds as well as his 11 points and Hu Xuefeng converted four of his six three-pointer attempts.

    China, without injured Yao, have won 14 of the 17 Asia championships they have participated.

    Hareesh Koroth led the India team with 14 points, including three three-pointers.

    Defending champion Iran were scratchy in their plays and rather scattered in their scoring, yet proved better for Chinese Taipei after winning the match 71-67.

    Menphis Grizzlies center Hamed Ehadadi took a locker-room break early in the second quarter, but returned without much to worry. Ehadadi returned a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Samad Nikkah Bahrami led Iran with 22 points, as well as seven rebounds and a game-high 11 assists.

    Chinese Taipei played within themselves and worked hard at both ends of the floor to keep their rival on toes. Wu Tai-Ho led the team with 16 points and Tien Li contributed 15 points.

    In Group A, Philippines crushed Sri Lanka 115-31 and South Korea defeated rival Japan 95-74 with an easy win. Kuwait beat Uzbekistan 69-64 to top Group B and Iran took the second place. Qatar beat Kazakhstan 77-62 in Group C and will face India on Friday while China will play against Kazakhstan. In Group D, Jordan beat Lebanon 84-67 and United Arab Emirates edged out Indonesia 68-63.