Due to a foot injury, second seed Bao Chunlai pulled out of the All England Championships which swung into action on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Chinese player hobbled off the court when playing against Joachim Persson in the second round. He was trailing the Dane 10-5 in the second game after losing the first 17-15.

"I injured my right foot in the German Open tournament several days ago. Before today's game, I felt OK so I wanted to play," he said.

"But the injury aggravated in the match and I could not run properly, I could do nothing but retire," he added.

His teammates Lin Dan, the top seed of the tournament, beat Kasper Oedum of Denmark 5-15, 15-6, 15-4 and will meet Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann in the next round.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2006)