BEIJING, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia's top bet for a medal in the Olympics, stamped his class over Ronald Susilo of Singapore 21-13, 21-14 in his opening second-round match today as all badminton seeds took to the courts Monday.
Chong Wei, who is seeded number two behind two-time reigning world champion Lin Dan of China, took just 38 minutes to shatter any hope Ronald may have had of repeating his upset of Lin Dan in the Athens Olympics four years ago.
"I was feeling a little stiff since this was the first match. But after taking the lead, from 9-9 to 13-9, I cooled down and was more relaxed," said Chong Wei, who is now poised to breeze into the quarterfinals.
His third-round opponent is either Kestutis Navickas of Lithuania or Stanislav Pukhov of Russia and a win will see him into the last eight.
"No matter who (it's going to be), I will not underestimate my opponent," said Chong Wei of his next round tie.
Ronald was the biggest opening hurdle for Chong Wei but the 29-year-old former Indonesian national was no match for the more skilful and fitter Malaysian.
After an overly eager start, Chong Wei settled down to exert his control, making good his overhead smashes to attack Ronald to his right.
"I was also trying to make use of the draft in the second game. I am still adjusting to the wind," he said.
Lin Dan, under pressure to deliver the gold, meets Hong Kong's Ng Wei in the evening. Malaysia's other men's singles player, Wong Choon Hann, faces defending champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.
-- BERNAMA
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