The United States women's freestyle team will receive a pair of tough early tests when the two-day World Cup kicks off Saturday in Taiyuan, China.

The U.S. will face Ukraine and Japan to open the dual-meet event that includes the top six finishers from the 2007 World Championships.

The American squad is scheduled to face Ukraine in Pool A on Saturday morning at 10:30 China time before meeting the powerful team from Japan on Saturday afternoon. Japan won the 2007 World Cup and rolled to the team title at the 2007 World Championships. Ukraine tied for second in the team race at the World Championships while the U.S. placed fifth.

Pool B includes China, Canada and Kazakhstan.

The winners of each pool will meet in the finals on Sunday night. The second-place finishers in each pool will meet for third place on Sunday. The third-place finishers in each pool will wrestle for fifth.

Olympic and World silver medalist Sara McMann and two-time World bronze medalist Katie Downing headline a strong U.S. team.

2008 WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

Pool A - Ukraine, Japan, USA
Pool B - China, Canada, Kazakhstan

Saturday - January 19

Round 1 - 9:30 a.m.
Ukraine vs. Japan
China vs. Canada

Round 2 - 10:30 a.m.
Ukraine vs USA
China vs Kazakhstan

Round 3 - 5 p.m.
Japan vs USA
Canada vs Kazakhstan

Sunday - January 20

5th Place Dual - 10:30 a.m.
3rd Place Dual - 5 p.m.
1st Place Dual - 6 p.m. 

WORLD CUP ROSTERS

United States

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Stephanie Murata, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Jenny Wong, Gaffney, S.C. (Sunkist Kids)
55 kg/121 lbs. - Marcie Van Dusen, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
59 kg/130 lbs. - Leigh Jaynes, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Sara McMann, Gaffney, S.C. (Sunkist Kids)
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Katie Downing, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Stephany Lee, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
Coaches - Terry Steiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Tadaaki Hatta (Elyria, Ohio)

Japan

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Makiko Sakamoto and Chiharu Icho
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Hitomi Sakamoto
55 kg/121 lbs. - Chikako Matsukawa and Saori Yoshida
59 kg/130 lbs. - Kei Yamana
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Mio Nishimaki and Kaori Icho
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Mami Shinkai
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Yuki Sano

Ukraine

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Irina Merleni
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Aleksandra Kohut
55 kg/121 lbs. - Natalya Sinishin
59 kg/130 lbs. - Katerina Dombrovska
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Yulia Ostapchuk
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Katerina Burmistrova
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Svetlana Sayenko

Canada

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Carol Huynh
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Jessica Bony
55 kg/121 lbs. - Jazzie Barker
59 kg/130 lbs. - Amanda Gerhardt
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Justine Bouchard
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Megan Buydens
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Pamela Wilson

Kazakhstan

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Tatyana Bakatyuk and Elenora Abutalipova
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Ishimov and Abdildina
55 kg/121 lbs. - Saltanat Abdrakhmanova
59 kg/130 lbs. - Olga Smirnova
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Elena Shalygina
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Olga Kalinina
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Darya Karpenko

China

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Xiaomei Li and Liu
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Xuecheng Ren and Huang
55 kg/121 lbs. - Lihui Su and Dongmei Sun
59 kg/130 lbs. - Fengliu Zhang
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Haiyan Xu and Lili Meng
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Rui Xue Jing
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Xu Wang and Xu