KUALA LUMPUR, April 17: Top seeds Lin Dan of China and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia stayed on course on Wednesday to win the Asian Badminton Championships after winning their early rounds of the men’s singles matches.

Lin, the world number one and top seed in the Asian meet, had to be at his very best against Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh before winning 19-21, 21-14, 21-16 in 55 minutes.

Lee, the second seed, had a similarly hard-fought match against China’s Zhu Weilun, eventually beating him 17-21, 21-16, 21-6 in 48 minutes.

In the first-round matches earlier in the morning, both Lin and Lee enjoyed far easier rides. Lin beat Indonesia’s Andreas Adityawarman 21-13, 21-13 while Lee defeated Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk by an identical score.

In the third round, Lin, who has never won a title in Malaysia, will take on Singapore’s Indonesian-born hopeful Ronald Susilo.

The 12th seed beat Taiwan’s Liao Sheng Shiun 21-9, 21-19 in the second round after a 21-17, 21-10 win over Iran’s Ali Shahhosseini in the first round.

Results:

Men’s singles (second round): Lin Dan bt Nguyen Tien Minh 19-21, 21-14, 21-16; Ronald Susilo bt Liao Sheng Shiun 21-9, 21-19; Lee Hyun Il bt K Dinuka 21-11, 21-14; Ng Wei bt Tommy Sugiarto 16-21, 22-20, 21-16; Chen Jin bt Hiroyuki Endo w/o; Simon Santoso bt Alamsyah Yunus 14-21, 21-16, 21-16; Chen Yu bt Shih Kuei Chun 21-14, 21-19; Wong Choong Hann bt Kenichi Tago 21-17, 21-14; Hsieh Yu Shin bt Shoji Sato 18-21, 21-12, 21-16; Sony Dwi Kuncoro bt V. Pakkawat 21-17, 21-19; Muhd Hafiz Hashim bt Mohamad Arif 21-16, 21-17; Bao Chunlai bt P. Kashyap 21-16, 21-13; Tan Chun Seang bt Kendrik Lee 21-16, 21-16; Park Sung Hwan bt Wong Wai Hong 21-7, 21-6; Boonsak Ponsana bt Yeoh Kay Bin 21-10, 21-13; Lee Chong Wei bt Zhu Weilun 17-21, 21-16, 21-6.

First round:

Men’s singles: Lin Dan (Chn X1) bt Andreas Adityawarman (Ina) 21-13, 21-13; Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) bt Pankaj Chand (Nep) 21-8, 21-2; Ronald Susilo (Sin X12) bt Ali Shahhosseini (Iri) 21-17, 21-10; Liao Sheng Shiun (Tpe) bt Abdul Hannan (Ban) 21-8, 21-17; Lee Hyun Il (Kor X6) bt Christopher Flores (Phi) 21-13, 21-8; Dinuka Karunaratne (Sri) bt Kennevic Asuncion (Phi) 21-17, 21-18; Ng Wei (Hkg X15) bt Liu Chin Lun (Tpe) 21-12, 21-16; Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) Vann Chanpisay (Cam) 21-4, 21-8; Chen Jin (Chn X4) bt Ashton Chen (Sin) 21-10, 21-10; Hiroyuki Endo (Jpn) bt Chetan Anand (Ind) 21-19, 26-24; Simon Santoso (Ina X10) bt Anand Pawar (Ind) 21-16, 21-9; Alamsyah Yunus (Ina) bt Hsueh Hsuan Yi (Tpe) 21-16, 21-9; Chen Yu (Chn X8) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 22-20, 21-10; Shih Kuei Chun (Tpe) Pashupati Paneru (Nep) 21-10, 21-14; Wong Choong Hann (Mas X11) bt S. Poompat (Tha) 21-15, 21-13; Kenichi Tago (Jpn) bt Derek Wong (Sin) 21-9, 21-12; Hsieh Yu Shin (Tpe) bt Duong Phuong Nam (Vie) 21-13, 21-11; Shoji Sato (Jpn X13) bt Nguyen Ngoc Tung (Vie) 21-13, 21-8; Pakkawat Vilallak (Tha) bt Ram Singh Chaudhari (Nep) 21-6, 21-10; Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina X5) bt Balaram Thapa (Nep) 21-12, 21-7; Muhammad Hafiz Hashim (Mas) w/o Niluka Karunaratne (Sri); Abdul Latif Muhamad Arif (Mas) bt Chan Yan Kit (Hkg x14) 21-16, 25-23; P. Kashyap (Ind) bt Lu Yi (Chn) 11-21, 21-17, 21-10; Bao Chunlai (Chn X3) bt Jun Takemura (Jpn) 21-13, 21-16; Tan Chun Seang (Mas) bt Prum Saravuth (Cam) 21-7, 21-5; Kendrik Lee (Sin X16) bt Olonbayar Enkhbat (Mgl) 21-4, 21-8; Wong Wai Hong (Hkg) bt Abdulrahman Abbas (Irq) (disqualified); Park Sung Hwan (Kor X7) bt Anup Sridhar (Ind) 21-9, 21-13; Yeoh Kay Bin (Mas) bt Md Rais Uddin (Ban) 21-6, 21-12; Boonsak Ponsana (Tha X9) bt Lee Chen Yen (Tpe) 21-4, 21-15; Zhu Weilun (Chn) bt Ralph Ian Mendez (Phi) 21-11, 21-5; Lee Chong Wei (Mas X2) bt S. Tanongsak (Tha) 21-13, 21-13.

Women’s singles: Wang Chen (Hkg X1) bt Chen Shih Ying (Tpe) 21-7, 21-5; Chiang Pei Hsing (Tpe) bt Renu Chandrika (Sri) 21-16, 21-10; Lydia Cheah (Mas) bt Kaori Mori (Jpn X7) 21-14, 21-14; Kaori Imabeppu (Jpn) bt Huang Chia Hsin (Tpe) 21-13, 25-23; Eriko Hirose (Jpn X4) bt Salakjit Ponsana (Tha) 21-13, 15-21, 21-12; Jiang Yanjiae (Chn) bt Xing Aiying (Sin) 21-12, 21-15; Julia Wong (Mas) Saina Nehwal (Ind X8) 21-15, 16-21, 21-17; Goto Ai (Jpn) bt Tee Jing Yi (Mas) 21-11, 21-5.—AFP