Lin Dan eases into All England last 8

BIRMINGHAM, England: Chinese Olympic champion Lin Dan eased into the quarterfinals of the All England championships on Thursday with a comfortable 21-14, 21-13 win over unseeded compatriot Bao Chunlai.

Chasing his fourth All England title, No 2 seed Lin next faces sixth-seed Joachim Persson who earlier beat fellow Dane Jan Jorgensen 21-15, 21-18.

Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat, Olympic champion in 2004 but still chasing his first All England title, dropped the first game to home favorite Andrew Smith but recovered to win 15-21, 21-15, 21-16.