The world no. 12 and tournament's incumbent men's singles champion Wang Zhengming failed to make an early round title defense after bowing out to Kazumasa Sakai of Japan in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Bonny China Masters at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Center on Tuesday.

The world No. 12 Chinese shuttler, who is the fourth-seeded player of the Grand Prix Gold event, yielded to the 110^th ranked 26-year-old unseeded Japanese in two straight sets 21-15, 21-17. Sakai wrapped up the match and took the victory in just 19 minutes.

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Meanwhile, in the other matches of the badminton event, China's top and elite players Chen Long and Lin Dan both advanced to the next round of the competition.

Five-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lin defeated Jaspar Woon Chai Yu of Brunei. The world No. 4 and second-seeded Chinese badminton star claimed victory in just 25 minutes, wining two straight sets 21-11, 21-6.

Lin will be meeting 36-year-old Cheng Po Wei of Chinese Taipei in the next round of the competition.

On the other hand, world No. 1 and top seed Chen Long took the first round victory after being handed a walkover triumph against Mek Narongrit of Thailand. The two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist will be facing compatriot Ren Pengbo for the third round berth.

India's world No. 23 and seventh-seeded H.S Prannoy, who was the 2016 Swiss Open winner, won over Joo Ven Soong of Malaysia after losing the first set of the match 19-21, 21-14, 21-18. While Riichi Takeshita of Japan defeated Andrew Susanto of Indonesia in two straight sets 21-13, 21-6.

Bonny China Masters is a part of the Grand Prix Gold events of the BWF. It has prize money of US$150,000.00 and the tournament will run from April 19 to 24.

Tagsbwf rankings, bwf 2016, bonny china masters, wang zhengming, Lin Dan, Chen Long, H.S. Prannoy