China's Lin Dan, Chen Long reach second round at badminton worlds

BASEL, Switzerland -- China's Lin Dan and Chen Long, who won a total of three Olympic champions and seven world titles between them, both advanced to the second round of the World Championships here on Monday.

Lin fought back from one set down to beat Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam 16-21, 21-12, 21-12 while the reigning Olympic champion Chen defeated Russia's Vladimir Malkov 21-14, 21-17.

Lin, nicknamed Super Dan by his fans, took one hour and 18 minutes to beat the 36-year-old Nguyen, whose best feat in his career is a third-place finish at the 2013 worlds.

"He played brilliantly," said Lin, who also turns 36 in two months. "That brilliance could have helped him to beat anybody. I played him many times but this is the most difficult one."