Olympic champion Taufik exits All Englands

By Dave Thompson

BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat was knocked out of the All England championships in Friday's quarter-finals, beaten by former world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 23-21 21-17.

The Indonesian, whose form has been patchy, should have taken the first game but wasted three chances from 20-17 and another at 21-20.

Second seed Lee pounced on his first game point and from then on the Indonesian was fighting a losing battle.

Lee, winner of the Malaysian Open in January, is on top of his form. He now faces a semi-final on Saturday against Chinese fourth seed Chen Jin who overcame last year's beaten world finalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-14 21-12.

The other semi-final will feature holder Lin Dan, the world number one, and Chinese compatriot Bao Chunlai, seeded three.

Lin ousted Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark 21-17 21-11 and Bao beat another Dane, Joachim Persson, 21-11 21-13.

Lin, seeking a fifth All England final appearance in succession, told reporters: "It went smoothly even though he is a good player.

"I want to play Bao. It is good for the Chinese spirit ahead of the Olympics to have more players through to the later stages."