China flexed their muscles on the second day of the world badminton championships on Tuesday when third seed Chen Jin and sixth seed Chen Yu enjoyed comfortable victories.

Chen Jin

With top seed Lin Dan yet to start his campaign to retain the title he won in Madrid last year, there were clear warnings for the pretenders about the Chinese strength in depth.

Chen Jin needed just 22 minutes to breeze past unseeded Portuguese Marco Vasconcelos 21-9 21-5. Chen Yu beat New Zealander John Moody 21-13 21-11.

Lin, who had a first round bye, is in action on Wednesday, when he faces Hong Kong's Wei Ng on a day when the week-long tournament moves sharply up the gears.

Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia plays India's Anup Sridhar and local favourites Lee Chong Wei and the exciting doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong also start their quest for a first ever world title for Malaysia.

China won four of the five titles last year but as Malaysia prepares to celebrate its 50th year of independence at the end of the month, hopes are high that its badminton players can end a 30-year drought and provide a sporting boost.

Later on Tuesday, Europe's best singles hope Peter Gade of Denmark, seeded five, was playing his first round match against England's Andrew Smith.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     (source:Javno)