Lin and six Asians through to q-finals

LONDON - CHINA'S Lin Dan led six other Asians into the men's quarter-finals of the All-England Open, leaving Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen the only European in the last eight.

Lin, who beat qualifier Simon Santoso 21-14, 21-18, appeared keen to defend the world's oldest title after his failure in the last Super Series tournament in Kuala Lumpur.

There, the left-handed world No1 was beaten in the second round; here, he advanced with a performance which showed what a versatile competitor he is.

He would play at different paces, accelerating when he felt he needed a run of points, and would hit at different speeds.

This demoralised Santoso, even though he stuck to his task as best as he could.

'The match was fine - it wasn't too hard,' Lin said.

He was disappointed Malaysian Open winner Peter Gade and Olympic and former world champion Taufik Hidayat were not barring his path to the final.

Lin was seeded to meet Taufik in the quarter-finals and Gade in the semi-finals, but Taufik withdrew in protest against Indonesian officials, and Gade lost in the first round.

His next opponent is Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who beat Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 21-11, 21-14.

Four Europeans started but only one was still standing by the end of Thursday.

Jonassen booked his quarter-final place with a battling 60-minute win over South Korean Park Sung Hwan, going through 21-16, 18-21, 21-17.

He will meet second-seeded Chen Jin of China, who beat compatriot Ng Wei 21-17, 21-18.

Of the other three Europeans, Wales' Richard Vaughan lost to world silver medallist Bao Chunlai 21-15, 12-21, 8-21.

Chen Yu made it four Chinese players to reach the last eight when he beat Thai Boonsak Ponsana 21-14, 21-10.

He will meet Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who ousted Danish qualifier Kasper Oedum 21-16, 21-16.

Dutchman Dicky Palyama, the surprise conqueror of Gade, lost 10-21, 14-21 to Japanese qualifier Shoji Sato.

Meanwhile, Lin's girlfriend Xie Xingfang and Zhang Ning were on course to repeat the last two women's singles finals of this tournament.

Double defending champion Xie beat Thai qualifier Salakjit Ponsana 21-10, 21-9.

She next faces teammate Jiang Yanjiao in the quarter-finals.

Zhang's 21-18, 21-8 win over South Korean Hwang Hye Young set her up for a clash with Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS