Lin Dan bereikt de laatste acht bij All England

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"Nobody wants to meet teammates at such an early stage. Houwei played smartly but may be he has put himself under too much pressure," the 31-year-old Lin said.

Trailing 3-6 in the second game, Tian scored six points in a row for a 9-6 lead with powerful smashes. The scoreline was levelled several times until Tian made it 18-18. But Lin, nicknamed Super Dan, gave no chance to his compatriot, winning 21-19 and reaching the quarter-finals.

Top seed Chen Long, last year's beaten finalist, crushed Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei 21-7, 21-9.

Fifth-seeded Lin will next take on Japan's Kento Momota while Chen faces Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

In women's singles, China's top seed Li Xuerui suffered a surprise defeat to less known compatriot Sun Yun. The 2012 winner was beaten 13-21, 13-21 by the 21-year-old Sun.

"I have tried my best but I have not entirely recovered from my foot injury yet. I only started training again about two weeks ago," Li said.

Second seed Wang Shixian of China beat Bae Yeon Ju of South Korea 21-12, 13-21, 21-9 while compatriot Wang Yihan saw off Japan's Minatsu Mitani 21-23, 21-6, 21-16.

Sixth seed and reigning World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain also advanced to the last eight with a win over Porntip Buranaprasertuk of Thailand 21-10, 21-16.