Lee Chong Wei reached the second round of the BWF All England Open today ©Getty Images

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia eased into the second round of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Yonex All England Open in Birmingham today.

Wei, the top seed in the men's singles competition, was in ominous form at the Barclaycard Arena as he defeated Brice Leverdez of France in straight games.

The three-time Olympic silver medallist collected a 21-15, 21-12 win over the qualifier.

Beijing 2008 and London 2012 men's singles gold medallist Lin Dan of China was also victorious today.

The defending champion brushed aside Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia 21-11, 21-12.

Elsewhere, Viktor Axelsen came through an all-Danish clash.

The Rio 2016 bronze medallist defeated his compatriot Anders Antonsen 21-13, 21-19 in straight games.

The winner of last week's German Open in Mülheim, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, maintained his good form as he overcame Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-10, 21-14.

In the women's singles Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, winner of the women's singles title at the Dubai World Superseries Finals in December, defeated Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand.

The top seed defeated her Asian rival 21-18, 21-14.

India's Pusarla Venkata Sindhu also won today.

She overcame Denmark's unseeded player Mette Poulsen 21-10, 21-11.

India's Pusarla Venkata Sindhu advanced to the second round of the women's singles at the All England Open in Birmingham by beating Denmark's Mette Poulsen ©Yonex All England/Twitter
India's Pusarla Venkata Sindhu advanced to the second round of the women's singles at the All England Open in Birmingham by beating Denmark's Mette Poulsen ©Yonex All England/Twitter

There were also comfortable wins for all of the top seeds in the three doubles competitions today.

Malaysian duo V Shem Goh and Wee Kiong Tan beat Japan's Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 21-15, 21-18 in the men's doubles.

Much to the disappointment of the home crowd, English duo of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge, the bronze medallists at Rio 2016, lost their opening encounter.

The seventh seeds, Angga Pratama and Ricky Karandasuwardi of Indonesia, defeated the home favourites 27-25, 21-19.

The Japanese duo of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi eased into round two of the women's doubles event.

They eliminated Della Destiara Haris and Rosyita Eka Putri Sari of Indonesia 21-15, 21-13.

Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen of China are the top seeds in the mixed doubles event and they showed their superiority by beating Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 21-10, 21-15.

Action is due to continue tomorrow with the second round of matches in the main draw of the Superseries tournament.