BIRMINGHAM, England, 30 July 2003 — Muhammad Roslin Hashim, only a last minute substitute after the world championships were postponed because of the SARS virus, grabbed his chance spectacularly by upsetting the seedings in the first round here yesterday.

The Malaysian overcame Boonsak Polsana, the 12th seeded in-form Thai Open champion from Bangkok, 15-12, 15-9 in a men’s singles match of sustained brilliance and set up a second round clash with his younger brother Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.

Both men were able to switch from defense to attack and back again in a riot of breathtaking rallies, with Roslin proving just a little quicker and more explosive when the points most mattered.

Had the world championships taken place on its May dates 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.

“I was determined to make the best of it,” he said, and he did so with a performance which showed hints of the form which made him the top seed for the last world championships, in Seville two years ago.

The crux of the match was Roslin’s ability to snuff out a thrilling revival by Polsana from 6-12 to 12-13 in the first time, during which the gifted Thai produced some improbably brilliant shots.

These included one defensive block played around his back in a rally which he went on to win, to the delight of the crowd, and one waist high backhand switched across court from behind him with a late disguise which converted a desperate situation into a winner.

But Roslin got the serve back with a tight net shot which elicited a short lift from Polsana, setting up an easy kill.

Earlier Xie Xinfang, the sixth-seeded Chinese player who was runner-up at the All-England, had to battle hard in the second game to get past the Singaporean, Xiao Luxi.

The unseeded player led 9-6 in the second game before missing a chance to reach game point by putting a sliced smash into the net from a good position, and Xie never allowed Xiao an opportunity to get so close again.

On Monday, Peter Gade, runner-up for the men’s world title two years ago, lost in the first round.

Gade was given a wildcard to compete at the rescheduled championships at the Birmingham Indoor Arena, the main qualifying event for next year’s Athens Olympics.

He lost to Indonesian sixth seed and Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro 15-11, 15-6.

Other men’s seeds to advance to the second round Monday were Indonesia’s No. 3 seed Taufik Hidayat who beat Indian champion Abhinn Shyam Gupta 15-7, 15-10 and No. 5 Xia Xuanze of China, who defeated Singapore’s Hendra Wijaya 15-6, 15-7.

Singapore’s Ronald Suilo, seeded 10th had a comfortable win over England’s Aamir Ghaffar, England, 15-2, 15-7.

Other successful men’s seeds were Japan’s No. 11 Hidetaka Yamada, No. 15 Bjoern Joppien of Germany and Poland’s 16th seeded Przemyslaw Wacha.

In the women’s singles, China’s second-seeded Zhang Ning and 1999 champion Camilla Martin both advanced. Zhang beat Ekaterina Ananina of Russia 11-1, 11-4 and seventh-seeded Martin defeated Tatiana Vattier of France 11-3, 11-1.

Three seeded women lost - No. 11 Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden, No. 14 Miho Tanaka of Japan and England’s No. 16 Julia Mann.