Lin Dan marches on

LONDON, Mar 9 (Reuters) Top seed Lin Dan of China cruised into the quarter-finals of the All England badminton championships in Birmingham, beating Indonesian qualifer Simon Santoso 21-14 21-18.

But Indonesia sprang a surprise when unseeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro ousted former All England champion Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia 21-11 21-14.

The victory boosted Indonesia whose leading hope, Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, was a surprise withdrawal on the eve of the tournament.

There were no upsets in the women's singles, with top seeds Xie Xinfang and Zhang Ning of China both progressing in straight sets for the second day running.

The tournament, which dates back to 1899, has become part of badminton's 12-strong Super Series with a slimmed down field of 32 and record prize money of 200,000 dollar, up 75,000 dollar on 2006.

REUTERS DKS PM0447