China's Olympic champion Chen Yufei beat Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam in straight sets in the women's singles first round at the All England Open Badminton Championships on Wednesday.
Chen suffered a tough defeat to one of her arch rivals Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-15, 18-21, 22-20 in the semifinals at the French Open last week. She came to Birmingham with blisters on her feet and couldn't find her rhythm on Wednesday until the late stage of the first set.
"I struggled a bit due to a slow start," said Chen who took the victory 21-16, 21-12 after 37 minutes. "But after I found my rhythm, my opponent began to make mistakes."
Yamaguchi battled to the second round by winning over Chinese Zhang Yaman 21-18 and 22-20 while the top seed An Se-young from South Korea saw off Hsu Wen-chi of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-16.
In the men's singles, last year's finalist Shi Yuqi came from one set down to edge out Danish Rasmus Gemke 18-21, 23-21 and 21-19.
The Chinese shuttler was crowned at the French Open last Sunday and admitted it's quite hard to stay sharp at All England.
"I felt my steps were heavy and my shots were not clinical," said Shi. "But I'm glad that I didn't give up and kept finding ways to go through."
Messi in and Dybala out in Argentina squad for pre
Russian state media is posting more on TikTok ahead of the U.S. presidential election, study says
Promoter stands by Ryan Garcia after a report he tested positive for a banned substance
Beijing gears up for Strawberry Music Festival during May Day holiday
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
North Carolina boy, 18, wins $2million on one of the first scratch
Beijing gears up for Strawberry Music Festival during May Day holiday
Kate Hudson hits the stage to debut songs from her new album Glorious at star
Death toll from heavy rains in southern Brazil jumps to 29, with 60 more still mising