ZAC Purchase got his Beijing gold medal bid off to a flyer with an opening heat victory with Mark Hunter in the fastest qualifying time.

The 22-year-old King’s Worcester product, who started his sculling career at Upton Rowing Club, says his Great Britain lightweight double scull weren’t at full stretch and there’s more to come.

The GB World Cup champion duo powered into an early lead they never surrendered, holding the mid-race push of Greece’s 2007 world silver medallists to come home a length and a third clear.

“We didn’t do anything spectacular, just set ourselves up for the semi-final,” said 2006 world singles champion Pur-chase.

“It wasn’t flat out at any point, we were within ourselves. We had a good first thousand metres and that was enough to win the race. We just made sure we crossed the line first.

“Now the aim is to prepare for that and make sure we get in the final,” added the former Evesham Rowing Club racer.

Thunder, lightning and torrential ran later saw the last four races postponed for 24 hours, but earlier it was Purchase and partner lighting up the course with a superb display of double sculling.

The British duo had their bows in front after 10 strokes and settling to 36 strokes a minute, were half a length to the good by the 250-metre mark.

Greece’s Vasileios Polymeros — who beat world singles record holder Purchase to the world one-man title in Japan in 2005 — and Dimitrios Mougios were slightly up on the rest of the pack at the quarter-way mark, where GB still had a second’s advantage.

Purchase and Hunter squee-zed out to three-quarters of a length at 700m before holding the lead through half-way.

The Brits then moved again to re-establish a three-quarter length lead with 500m to race.

The Greeks, secure of going through, didn’t challenge again as the GB pair eased away in the last quarter to win by 2.41 seconds in six minutes 13.69.

Greece crossed in 6.16.10, with the Germans third two-and-a-half lengths back in 6.21.99.

Japan were fourth in 6.24.21 and Algeria — a product of the quota system that allows weaker nations in at the expense of stronger countries — some 19 seconds back in fifth.