Top seed players cruised through easily at the badminton's opening day in Rio Olympics

All except one pair of the Chinese shuttlers managed to grab the victory on the first day of the badminton competition of 2016 Rio Olympic Games on Thursday, and the men's doubles pair Chai Biao and Hong Wei were the exception.

Chai/Hong suffered a bitter beginning as Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan edged past them 21-18, 14-21 and 23-21 in Group D of men's doubles.

Men's singles hotshots China's Lin Dan and Chen Long as well as Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei cruised through easily in their first games.

Chen Long beat Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne 21-7, 21-10 in 41 minutes in Group P, "Super Dan" breezed past Austria's David Obernosterer 21-5, 21-11 in 36 minutes in Group E, and Lee Chong Wei was barely stretched in his 21-2, 21-3 rout of Suriname's Soren Opti in Group A. The other gold medal competitor Denmark's Viktor Axelsen was impressive in his 21-14, 21-13 demolition of Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana.

"So far so good," said two-time Olympic champion Lin. "There are still some issues with the wind. I'm just happy to be here. There are a lot of good players in the draw, let's see how things go."

Women's singles defending champion Li Xuerui of China faced little trouble in her first match as Li swept a clear victory over Telmo Santos of Portugal 21-12, 21-7. Another China's women's singles shuttler Wang Yihan won Chloe Magee of Ireland 21-7, 21-12 in 38 minutes.

Other women's singles stars, like Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, top seed Carolina Marin of Spain and Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei shared the same easy winning.

Mixed doubles defending champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China were troubled by Germany's Michael Fuchs/Birgit Michels in the opening game but had it easier in the second, 21-19, 21-16, as they started their Group A campaign on a happy note.

Olympic silver medallists Xu Chen and Ma Jin stumbled but recovered in time in their opening Group B match, beating Britain's Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock by 13-21, 22-20, 21-15.

Japan's Kenta Kazuno/Ayane Kurihara got past Netherlands' Jacco Arends/Selena Piek by 21-14, 21-19, while South Korea's Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na breezed past Phillip Chew/Jamie Subandhi of the United States 21-10, 21-12 in Group D.

In women's doubles, China's Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang got their title quest off to a smooth start against Germany's Carla Nelte/Johanna Goliszewski 21-10 21-11 in Group D.

Women's doubles top seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi had less trouble from India's Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa than they might have expected, coming away victors 21-15, 21-10 in their opening Group A assignment.

China's Luo Ying and Luo Yu gave an impressive account by beating World Championships silver medalists Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl 21-11, 21-18 in women's doubles Group B.

In men's doubles, China's Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan beat Philip Chew/Sattawat Pongnairat of the United States 21-6, 21-7 in 25 minutes in Group B. Top seeds Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong of South Korea got an easy win over Australia's Matthew Chau/Sawan Serasinghe 21-14, 21-16 in Group A, while Denmark's Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen overcame a difficult patch to get past Britain's Chris Langridge/Marcus Ellis in Group C 21-9, 9-21, 21-16. Endit