Gopichand beats Olympic Champion

Indian number one Pulella Gopichand beat Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng at the All-England Open in a third-round game on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Gopichand from Bangalore reached the quarter-finals with a crushing straight games win over the Chinese player.

The score was 15-3, 15-9 and Ji found the relaxed, flowing style of Gopichand too much to cope with. The Indian also kept the shuttle low as often as possible to nullify the Chinese player's dangerous smash.

The only moments when the Sydney hero got into it were early in the second game, when he worked hard to dictate the pace of the game. But Gopichand's temperament was excellent and he calmly found ways to move his celebrated opponent about.

"I didn't feel pressure when victory approached because I had a game plan and it was working, and I had a good lead," said Gopichand, who has now beaten all three Olympic men's singles champions during his career.

He beat Barcelona gold medallist Allan Budi Kusuma at the 1997 All-England and the Atlanta winner Poul-Erik Hoyer at the SAS Trophy in Austria.