LONDON - Top seed and world champion Lin Dan had to battle hard on the opening day of the All England championships in Birmingham on Wednesday, finally disposing of Malaysia's Roslin Hashim 24-22 16-21 21-9.

China's Lin Dan returns a shot to Malaysia's Muhd Roslin Hashim during the men's singles first round at the All England badminton championships in Birmingham, England March 7, 2007.  [Reuters]

It took the Chinese an hour to beat off Hashim and book a second round match with Indonesian qualifier Simon Santoso.

There was consolation for the Hashim family when Roslin's brother Hafiz, All England champion in 2003, ousted New Zealand qualifier John Moody 26-24 21-17.

Moody took the place of Indonesia's Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, a surprise late withdrawal.

Dutchman Dicky Palyama sprang a surprise late in the evening when he beat fourth seed Peter Gade of Denmark 15-21 21-19 21-19.

Gade is a former All England champion and won the Malaysia Open in January.

Fifth seed Bao Chunlai made it through to Thursday's second round but only after a protracted battle with Singapore's Ronald Susilo, the Chinese edging home 18-21 21-15 23-21.

The women's singles went largely to form and included straight-sets victories for the top two seeds from China, Xie Xingfang and Zhang Ning.

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, up $75,000 on 2006.