China's Li cruises into last 16 at BWF World Championships

COPENHAGEN -- Sixth seed Li Shifeng of China swept past Malaysia's world No. 34 Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-10, 21-12 to reach the men's singles last 16 for the first time at the BWF World Championships on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old All-England Open champion needed only 44 minutes to win the pair's second head-to-head meeting, revenging his full-game defeat at the Japan Open last year.

"Last time against him I played very aggressively, but lacked changes (in tactics) on the court. You cannot win the match if you only attack and attack. This time, I've learned lessons from that defeat and tried to play with more patience," Li said after the victory.

The 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion has been enjoying a skyrocketing year, which saw him win two BWF Tour titles and finish runner-up twice.

Next up for Li is Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei, who reached the last 16 at the worlds for the second year in a row after overcoming China's Lu Guangzu 21-16, 18-21, 21-19.

The 28-year-old Wang knocked out Lu in the same stage at last year's tournament in Tokyo, before losing to Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the battle for a quarterfinal berth.