Australia defeated China and its superstar centre Yao Ming 67-55 in a fiery opening to the Boomers' campaign in a pre-Olympic tournament in Nanjing, China yesterday.

In a heated match marred by the occasional scuffle and some bruising screens, the Boomers prevailed by 12 points in a preview of what they can expect in Beijing next month.

Yao shaded Australia's Andrew Bogut in the battle of NBA big men, but the visitors showed enough composure down the stretch to get off to the best possible start in the six-nation tournament and disappoint a vocal home crowd.

Yao finished with 14 points and seven boards, while Bogut had nine points and eight rebounds.

Chris Anstey played an important role for the Boomers, finishing with a team-high 11 points, while forward Dave Andersen also impressed.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllAT A GLANCEFIBA Diamond Ball Group A: AUSTRALIA 67 (C Anstey 11, D Andersen 10, A Bogut 9) bt CHINA 55 (M Yao 14, N Li 11, S Wang 8).