| 初 |
chū sài | preliminary contest / initial heats of a competition |
| 初 |
chū | (bound form) at first; initially / (bound form) first; early / (bound form) (in lunar calendar dates, before numerals 1–10) days 1 to 10 of a month, as in 初三 "the third" |
| 赛 |
sài | to compete / competition / match / to surpass / better than / superior to / to excel |