China's Lin Dan eased into the second round of the world championships with a 21-11, 21-10 success over Lithuanian Kestutis Navickas in London yesterday.
The Chinese suffered a surprise quarterfinal exit in last year's tournament in Paris after three world titles in a row but looked in good shape at the Wembley Arena against his world-ranked 40 opponent.
Lin's return of some heavy smashing coupled with sharp reflexes took him through in 34 minutes.
The victory avoided fresh Chinese embarrassment after the shock defeat on Monday of fifth seed Chen Long by Guatemalan outsider Kevin Cordon.
Lin, seeded two behind Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, told reporters: "Conditions in the hall are good and the drift and light are favorable for me. I feel comfortable here.
"I concentrated well and played well."
Wang Shixian, China's top seed in the women's singles, started her campaign with a comfortable 21-11, 21-14 victory over Bulgaria's Linda Zechiri.
There was more success for Ireland when Scott Evans beat Austria's Michael Lahnsteiner 21-15, 21-16 in the men's singles, following Chloe Magee's opening day win in the women's event.