Gade survives scare as other favourites ease through

Top seed Peter Gade survived a major scare before reaching the second round of the All-England badminton championships as the other favourites all breezed through on Wednesday.

A shock looked on the cards as the Dane dropped the first set to unseeded German Oliver Pongratz before recovering to win 4-15 15-9 15-9.

Pongratz produced possibly the best badminton of his life to waltz through the first game.

The world number one restored some order with a better display in the second game but Pongratz went 4-2 up in the decider to put the pressure on again.

To his credit, Gade fought back once more and then from 6-6 largely took control as Pongratz's winners, many from a lethal cross-court smash, gradually faded away.

"That is the first time that Oliver has played as well as that. I didn't expect him to play that way," Gade said.

"It can't be an excuse though because I had a very bad day, but then I am glad that on a bad day I can still win."

Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng booked his second-round place with a comfortable 15-8 15-7 success over Belgian Ruud Kuitjen.

It was little more than an exercise canter for the Chinese who accelerated away from 5-3 in the second game to claim victory.

Sydney Games silver medallist Hendrawan of Indonesia beat Canadian Andrew Dabeka 15-8 15-10.

Holder Xia Xuanze, the bronze medal winner in Sydney last September, took just 23 minutes to dispose of Muhamad Hasish Hashim 15-2 15-7.

Fifth-seeded Taufik Hidayat, runner-up for the past two years, beat England's Michael Edge 15-5 15-11.

At 14-6 in the second game the Indonesian looked home and dry only for Edge to save match point and stage a late rally.

But a service error at 11-14 let in Hidayat and the 19-year-old clinched the match with a cheeky flick-serve over his opponent's head.