Lee Chong Wei, who has slid down to No 5 in the latest BWF rankings, will meet his arch-rival Lin Dan in the All-England quarter-finals on Friday.
On Thursday the 35-year-old Malaysia had to bring out his best to down South Korean Lee Dong-kuen 21-6, 13-21, 21-18 in a 65-minute battle at the Arena in Birmingham.
Chong Wei, the defending champion and winner of the All-England four times, had it easy in the first game but struggled in the second and the third but rode on his experience to snatch victory – halting the Korean’s late challenge in the rubber.
Six-time champion Lin Dan, ranked No 8, secured a 21-13, 23-21 win over Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in 44 minutes.
Malaysia’s challenge in the women’s singles came to an end with the defeat of former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei. However, Jin Wei can take pride in her defeat and went out fighting to Japan’s Aya Ohori 24-22, 21-18 in 46 minutes.
National champion Soniia Cheah, who will carry Malaysia’s challenge in next month Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia was a first round casualty against Indonesia’s Fitriani Fitriani.
It was also the end of the road for mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying. The Rio Olympics silver medallists lost 22-24, 20-22 to China’s number eight seeds Zhang Nan-Li Yunhui.
German Open champions Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Mian Meng-Lai Pei Jing were first round casualties.
The men’s doubles pair of Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi put up a fighting display against world number one and top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. The Indonesians won 21-17, 20-22, 21-13. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
