SHANGHAI, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Reigning Olympic champions Li Xueri and Cai Yun/ Fu Haifeng eased past the first round of the China Open badminton tournamen after beating their lower ranked opponents here on Wednesday.
Women's singles world No.2 Li, who beat much fancied teammate Wang Yihan in the Olympics final in London, proved a class above un-seeded compatriot Suo Di, winning 21-13, 21-11 in just 29 minutes.
"After the London Olympics, I felt more pressured, but I'm gradually finding back my form," said Li, who suffered back-to-back early exits from the China Masters and Denmark Open last month.
Top seed Wang Yihan was made to sweat before edging past Indonesia's Aprilla Yuswandari 21-15, 21-19, while world No.4 Juliane Schenk of Germany romped into the second round after her opponent Bae Yeon Ju of South Korea retired due to injury.
With the absence of Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, world No. 3 Chen Long was awarded the top seed in the men's singles. The 23-year-old Chinese met little challenge from teammate Qiao Bin as he registered an easy 21-16, 21-11 victory.
Second seed Chen Jin survived an early-exit scare after he came from one set down to beat world No. 29 Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in one hour and 24 minutes.
Sugiarto used his court craft to move the shuttle to all four corners, winning the first set 21-17. Chen steadied himself in the second set to leveled the score 21-18. In the decider, Chen made a miraculous comeback when lagging behind 11-17 to take seven points in a row, and finally secured the victory 21-18.
Men's doubles Olympic gold medalists Cai and Fu blast past England's Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis 21-9, 21-10 to win their first match since the London Games. The three-time world champions denied any plans to retire as they aim at next year's Sudirman Cup and World Championships.
Also in doubles, China's Ma Jin - contesting mixed doubles with Xu Chen and women's doubles with Tang Jinhua - kept alive hopes of winning another Superseries title or even a double. Ma won both categories at the last two Superseries events in Denmark and France.