BIRMINGHAM, England, July 30: Rain stopped play at the world badminton championships here on Tuesday - a remarkable achievement even for Britain’s notoriously unpredictable weather, given that the shuttlecock sport is being held in the National Indoor Arena.

But when the drizzle found its way through an air vent action on court number four was delayed for more than two hours before a large plastic sheet was used to plug the gap.

It was one of the oddest incidents of its kind since sun stopped play at the world squash championships in Amsterdam 15 years ago, when dazzling light poured through a high window.

It was matched by surprises on the court.

Two brothers will play each other for the first time in a world badminton championship after Muhammad Roslin Hashim, who did not originally qualify to play in the tournament, caused an upset in the first round of the men’s singles.

Roslin, who beat the 12th seeded Thai Open champion Boonsak 15-12, 15-9, was only a last moment substitute after the world championships were postponed because of the SARS virus.

Had the world championships taken place in May as planned, Roslin would not have competed because he was not in the world’s top three. But when several players dropped out ten weeks later Malaysia was allowed by the rules to have four entries.

The former world number one from Malaysia, the top seed at the last world championships in Seville in 2001, grabbed his chance magnificently in a match in which both men switched from defence to attack and back again in a riot of breathtaking rallies.

It earned Roslin a meeting with his younger brother Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, who caused a sensation in this same arena five months ago when he won the All-England Open title as an unseeded player.

On that occasion Roslin narrowly missed playing Hafiz, losing in the semifinals and rushing off to catch a flight, only learning that Hafiz had grabbed the title when his brother sent him a text message.

Now Hafiz came through by beating Stanislav Pukhov of Russia 15-5, 15-5, and will face Roslin for only the second time in a tournament.

That was in the semifinals of the Dutch Open three years ago when Roslin won in straight games. There will be a hierarchy to overthrow if the tables are to be turned.

“I love the Birmingham venue because I have good memories of winning the All-England here,” said Hafiz. “We will both fight to win.”

Later Kenneth Jonassen, the second-seeded Dane won the match of the tournament so far when he came from a game and 10-11 down to win 15-17, 15-11, 15-10 to beat another Malaysian, the left-handed Lee Tsuen Seng.

It lasted 93 minutes and delayed the first round match between Kelly Morgan, the former Commonwealth champion from Wales, and Kaori Mori, a Japanese player pushing towards the world’s top 20, by an hour and a half.

This may have contributed to the downfall of the 15th seeded Morgan, who led 8-3 in the second game but was still beaten 11-7, 13-12, by a mobile and determined opponent.

Later Gong Ruina made a spectacular start to the defence of her title. The fourth-seeded Chinese player needed only eight minutes to win 11-0, 11-0 against Chrisa Georgali of Greece - the second fastest match in the history of the world championships.

Men’s results: Kennevic Asuncion bt Andrew Smith 17-14 15-8; Budi Santoso bt Colin Haughton 15-2 13-15 15-6; Wong Choong Hann bt Keita Masuda 15-5 15-11; Jan Frohlich bt Richard Vaughan 15-7 15-1; Agus Hariyanto bt Bobby Milroy 15-10 15-12; Anders Boesen bt Georgi Petrov 15-9 15-5; Dicky Palyama bt Antti Vittikko 15-5 15-12; Lee Hyun-il bt Jan Vondra 15-6 15-7; Shon Seung-mo bt Marleve Mainaky 15-2 15-6; Irwansyah bt Eric Go 15-3 15-3; Kenneth Jonassen bt Lee Tsuen Seng 15-17 15-11 15-10; Ng Wei bt Shinya Ohtsuka 15-11 15-3; David Jaco bt Guilherme Pardo 4-15 15-8 15-6; Muhammad Hafiz Hashim bt Stanislav Pukhov 15-5 15-5; Muhammad Roslin Hashim bt Boonsak Polsana 15-12 15-9; Vladislav Druzchenko bt Juergen Koch 11-15 15-13 15-0