AFP, Jakarta :
World number one Chen Long’s bid to defend his world crown got off to a strong start Wednesday with the Chinese star dismissing Estonia’ Raul Must in Jakarta.
Top seed Chen, who was given an opening-round bye, defeated unseeded Must 21-15, 21-7, to breeze into the third round of the tournament.
Chen is expected to encounter little trouble until the quarter-finals, where he will likely face seventh-seeded Dane Viktor Axelsen.
Chen, who has already won four titles this season, wasn’t getting ahead of himself, however, and stressed he would take one match at a time.
“Today there are many good players,” the 26-year-old told reporters.
“They could all win. I will be focusing on playing well in each round.”
It seems a wise approach from the defending champion, who has faltered early in other tournaments this year against lesser-ranked opponents.
Men’s 11th seed H.S. Prannoy of India also took his place in the last 16 with a routine victory over Uganda’s Edwin Ekiring 21-14, 21-19.
He will face Axelsen on Thursday after the Dane cleaned up Polish shuttler Adrian Dziolko 21-13, 21-15.
The former junior world champion knew the moment he saw the draw that a third-round clash against Prannoy would be a tough prospect.
