Gopichand too good for Lin Dan

India's Pulella Gopichand scored an upset first round 15-4, 15-2 victory over third seeded Lin Dan of China in the $170,000 Singapore Open badminton tournament on Wednesday.

The win was especially sweet for Gopichand, who lost to Lin in the first round of the tournament last year, just months after winning the prestigious All England title.

Gopichand, unseeded this time after an indifferent performance since his historic All England triumph, was ready for revenge after skipping an Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament in Mumbai last week to concentrate on this five-star event.

And he was justifiably elated after his easy victory.

"Everything just went to plan. The return of the 15-point format is a big bonus for me," said Gopichand, who was out for three months last year with a stress fracture.

"I could never really adjust to the shorter format but now I'm back and fit."

The contest, billed as the biggest match of the opening round, failed to live up to expectation as the Indian never allowed his opponent to settle down.

An early lead of 5-1 soon became 9-3 then 15-4 as the Indian sewed up the first game. And when the Indian jumped 7-1 ahead in the second game it was curtains for Lin, who looked clueless against Gopichand's solid defence and calculated attack.

In the second round, Gopichand faces Hong Kong's Ng We, a 15-8, 15-5 winner over England's Andrew Smith.

Another Indian to send a seeded player packing in the first round was Nikhil Kanetkar, who beat number six seed Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark 4-15, 15-10, 15-13.

Top seed Xia Xuanze had a tough time against Singaporean Henrda Wijaya, with the Chinese putting in a lacklustre performance on his way to a 17-14, 15-12 victory.

India's Chetan Anand also moved into the second round with a 17-15, 15-13 victory over Yohan Wiratma of Hong Kong.