Five times champion Lin Dan of China fought off tenacious challenge from teammate Tian Houwei to reach the last eight at the All England Open championships on Thursday.

Lin, also twice Olympic gold winner and five times world champion, beat the 23-year-old Tian 21-15, 21-19.

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

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 in China, gave no chance to his teammate, winning 21-19 and reaching the quarterfinals.

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 the women's competition, China's top seed Li Xuerui suffered a surprise defeat to less known compatriot Sun Yun.

Li, the winner in 2012, was beaten 21-13, 21-13 by the 21-year-old Sun.

"I have tried my best today, 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 and her teammate Wang Yihan saw off Japan's Minatsu Mitani 21-23, 21-6, 21-16.

Sixth seed Carolina Marin of Spain, last year's surprise winner at the world championships, also advanced to the last eight with a win over Porntip Buranaprasertuk of Thailand 21-10, 21-16.

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