Ratchanok Intanon eased through her opening match while qualifier Kantaphon Wangcharoen handed Chinese legend Lin Dan his second successive first-round exit at the US$350,000 Indonesia Masters in Jakarta Wednesday.
Fresh from winning her first title of the year last Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, fourth seed Ratchanok needed just 28 minutes to brush aside Beiwen Zhang of the US 21-7, 21-13 at Istora Senayan.
The 22-year-old Thai star is chasing her second straight World Tour Super 500 title. Ratchanok defeated world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan in the final of the Malaysia Masters four days ago.
She awaits the winner of the late match between Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland and Fitriani Fitriani of Indonesia.
In the men's singles event, Kantaphon, 19, defeated fifth seed and five-time world champion Lin 21-15, 21-19.
The 61st-ranked Kantaphon next plays Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the second round.
The 34-year-old Lin, who also lost in the first round in Malaysia last week, was one of the world's top players who expressed concerns about a new tournament structure requiring players to compete in more events.
The new tour series - featuring six levels and higher prize money - requires players to compete in more events. The top 15 singles players and top 10 doubles pairings must take part in 12 tournaments a year, an additional two from the previous structure.
"The top players will focus on the big tournaments... If we have to play in so many tournaments, we won't play our best," Lin said after his early loss in Malaysia.
Meanwhile women's top seed Tai came from behind to defeat Michelle Li of Canada 23-25, 21-12, 22-20.
Tai plays fellow Taiwanese Lee Chia-hsin in the second round today.
Nitchaon Jindapol joined Ratchanok in the second round but her match against Sayaka Sato was much tougher than her compatriot as she needed three games to defeat the Japanese 22-20, 17-21, 21-9.
Nitchaon, who won the season-opening Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters two weeks ago, next faces Korean fifth seed Sung Ji-Hyun, who took out another Thai hope Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-17, 21-17.
Suppanyu Avihingsanon also advanced in the men's singles event after beating Denmark's Emil Holst 21-19, 14-21, 21-12.