PARIS, Aug 26: Ex-world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat survived a second round scare at the world badminton championships on Wednesday, dropping the opening game before beating Yu Hsin Hsieh of Taiwan 19-21, 21-19, 21-9.

Second seed Peter Gade of Denmark also struggled before seeing off South Korea's Shon Wan-ho 25-23, 7-21, 21-18.

Hidayat's victory was an important one for Indonesia who lost out when Simon Santoso, seeded eight, had to pull out of his match with a back injury.

The blow follows the absence of sixth seeded Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro who withdrew before the tournament started, also with a back injury.

Hidayat, Olympic champion in 2004, told reporters: “I felt under pressure in the first set but I was more assured in the second.”

But the Indonesian had to fight hard later in the second when Hsieh came back to win five points in a row to make it 19-19.

“He scared me but I knew then I just had to win it,” Hidayat said. “Although it is my second match here, I still have some problem getting adjusted to the court conditions.”

Lin Dan of China, bidding to win the world title for a record fourth time in succession, trailed 6-1 in the second set against unseeded Swede Henri Hurskainen before restoring order to win 21-13, 21-15.

World number one Lee Chong Wei negotiated a potentially tricky clash with Malaysian compatriot Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, a former All England champion, running out a comfortable 21-16, 21-16 winner.

There was a fright in the women's singles for India's second seed Saina Nehwal playing her first match in the tournament after a first-round bye.

Nehwal dropped the first set against unseeded Taiwanese Hsiao Huan Chen before regaining control to win 20-22, 21-15, 21-8 in 47 minutes.

“It was not easy getting into gear as the last I played on this courts was on Sunday. So the three-day wait was bound to affect me in some ways,” Nehwal said.

A near capacity crowd of around 4,000 gave huge home support to France's Chinese-born woman player Pi Hongyan.

The fifth seed duly obliged with an easy 21-8, 21-8 success over unseeded Elena Prus from Ukraine.

Wednesday's results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men's singles: Second round; 2-Peter Gade (Denmark) bt Shon Wan-ho (South Korea) 25-23, 7-21, 21-18; 4-Chen Jin (China) bt Kestutis Navickas (Lithuania) 21-16, 21-16; 10-Bao Chunlai (China) bt David Snider (Canada) 21-13, 21-13; 13-Park Sung-hwan (South Korea) bt Vladimir Ivanov (Russia) 21-16, 21-13; Dicky Palyama (Netherlans) bt Misha Zilberman (Israel) 21-9, 21-13; Kazushi Yamada (Japan) bt 16-Wong Choong Hann (Malaysia) 17-21, 21-16, 21-18; 15-Marc Zwiebler (Germany) bt Pablo Abian (Spain) 21-13, 21-17; Yong Zhao Ashton Chen (Singapore) bt Stephan Wojcikiewicz (Canada) 21-16, 14-21, 21-17; 11-Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) bt Muhammad Hafiz Hashim (Malaysia) 21-16, 21-16; 3-Lin Dan (China) bt Henri Hurskainen (Sweden) 21-13, 21-15; 5-Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) bt Yu Hsin Hsieh (Taiwan) 19-21, 21-19, 21-9; 7-Tien Minh Nguen (Vietnam) bt Raul Must (Estonia) 21-14, 21-10; Hsuan Yi Hsueh (Taiwan) bt 8-Simon Santoso (Indonesia) – walkover; Tanongsak Saenso-mboonsuk (Thailand) bt 12-Kenichi Tago (Japan) 22-20, 21-19; 9-Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand) bt Carl Baxter (England) 21-18, 21-17. Women's singles: Second round: 5-Pi Hongyan (France) bt Elena Prus (Ukraine) 21-8, 21-8; 6-Wang Shixian (China) bt Salakjit Ponsana (Thailad) 21-15, 21-17; 13-Ella Diehl (Russia) bt Wong Mew Choo (Malaysia) 11-21, 21-15, 21-12; Ai Goto (Japan) bt Linda Zechiri (Bulgaria) 21-8, 21-10; 3-Wang Xin (China) bt Charmaine Reid (Canada) 21-15, 21-10; 2-Saina Nehwal (India) bt Hsiao Huan Chen (Taiwan) 20-22, 21-15, 21-8; 11-Jie Yao (Netherlands) bt Kristina Ludikova (Czech Republic) 21-13, 16-21, 21-15; 16-Kim Moon-hi (South Korea) bt Adrianti Firdasari (Indonesia) 13-21, 21-15, 21-18.—Reuters