Thailands Saralee Thoungthongkam (red jersey, foreground) and Sudket Prapakamol (background) play against Croatian players Zvonimir Durkinjak and Stasa Poznanovic. - AFP Photo

The wonderfully versatile Chinese left-hander and the superbly light-footed Malaysian both looked in such good form that ordinarily it would be hard to see anything else than a showdown between them.

Lin, the World and Olympic champion, overcame a tenacious Ali Shah Hosseini of Iran by 21-4, 21-10, and admitted he was now more concerned to spread the word about badminton around the world than extending his record of world titles to four.

And Lee, the world number one and All-England Open champion, was almost as dominant in beating Kevin Cordon of Guatemala by 21-7, 21-11.

But there is nothing ordinary about their half of the draw. It also contains, in Lee's quarter, Taufik Hidayat, the former world and Olympic champion from Indonesia, who may still be capable, at the age of 29, of upsetting either of the big two.

Hidayat's 21-10, 21-10 victory over Ola Fagbeni of Nigeria simultaneously helped him adapt to hot and humid conditions which may favour South-East Asians more than Europeans, and enabled him to conserve energy for tougher tussles.

It also brought questions to Lin as to what playing Hidayat was like.

“It's always a difficult match with him,” the defending champion said.

“And it's also different in every match.”

Lee may not appreciate this line of enquiry coming to Lin, as the top seed will himself fancy his chances of eliminating Hidayat before Hidayat reaches the champion. Lee did after all beat Hidayat in his home country in the final of the Indonesia Super Series in June.

There is also the possibility that Hidayat could have a potentially uncomfortable task in facing Kenich Tago in the last 16.

The 21-year-old became the first Japanese player to reach the All-England final in almost half a century in March, but now had to save a game point to avoid a decider in a 21-19, 24-22 victory against Petr Koukal of the Czech republic.

Meanwhile Lin, who could become the first player ever to win four world titles consecutively, explained the motivation which takes him forward now that he has achieved almost everything there is to achieve in the sport.

“It doesn't really matter so much to win it a fourth time - it's more about spreading the word and making the game more popular,” he said wisely.

Another recent Super Series title winner, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, never made it out of the starting blocks.

The sixth-seeded Indonesian showed he is still a danger to anyone by winning the Singapore Super Series a couple of months ago, but now was bothered too much by a persistently troublesome back and wthdrew.

That gave Misha Zilberman of Israel a walk-over and could most benefit Peter Gade, the second-seeded former world number one from Denmark, who thus escapes the prospect of a quarter-final with Kuncoro.

Another notable withdrawal was Zhou Mi, the former world number one from China, now representing Hongkong, but whose right knee had become too painful for her to risk further damage.

This means that the great home hope, Pi Hongyan, the China-raised French international, is now looks more than ever likely to face Wang Xin, the world number three from China, in the quarter-finals.

Pi, who has a first round bye, begins her campaign against Elena Prus, the world number 81 from Ukraine, on Wednesday. - AFP