WUHAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shuttler Chen Long advanced into the Badminton Asia Championships with a comfortable 21-8, 21-8 win over Bahaedeen-Ahmad Alshannik of Jordan here on Wednesday.
"It was my first game of the tournament. More or less, I was a little nervous," the third seed said.
The Jordanese player didn't bring too many challenges to the Rio Olympic winner. It took the defending champion only 33 minutes to seal the victory.
"After the Asia Championships, we will play the Thomas Cup, and after that there are Asian Games. There are many important events ahead of us this year," the 29-year-old said.
Chen has been struggling this season as he failed to reach the semifinal phase in any of the three BWF World Tour tournaments he participated, including a first-round exit in the Malaysia Masters in January.
"I have to draw lessons from past games, and try to make adjustments. I hope I can be back to my level as soon as possible," Chen added.
Another home player, the newly crowned All-England winner Shi Yuqi also went through the opening round easily, as his rival Lee Dong Keun of South Korea withdrew from the competition when Shi took the lead 21-3, 6-2. Awaiting for Shi in the second round is former world No.2 Kento Momota of Japan.
In the women's singles, first-seeded Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei defeated Jeon Jui of South Korea 21-13, 21-9 to move into the second round.
