Familiar story at All England Open

Super Dan is heating up at the All England Open badminton championships.

Lin Dan, China's six-time winner, beat Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-19, 21-16 on Wednesday, and the 34-year-old two-time Olympic champion will next take on Wang Tzu-wei of Chinese Taipei before a potentially mouth-watering 40th showdown with Malaysian defending champion Lee Chong Wei in the quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Lee knocked off Brazil's Ygor Coelho 21-15, 21-15 in the Wednesday's other match and next faces Lee Dong-keun of South Korea.

"I think this year there is a higher pace on the court, so both of us had to spend a lot of time to get used to it," Lin said after vanquishing the Dane.

"But after that, I think both of us found our own rhythm to stay in the match. I think the All England means more to me than the World Championships, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week."

In other action, Chen Long, who won gold for China at the 2016 Rio Olympics, defeated compatriot Qiao Bin 21-13, 21-11, while another Chinese player, Shi Yuqi, who lost in last year's final, advanced with a 21-18, 21-19 victory over South Korea's Jeon Hyeok-jin.

In the women's singles, Canada's Michelle Li upset third seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, the runner-up in 2017, with a scoreline of 21-15, 14-21, 21-19.

"I feel pretty good and I feel like I played pretty well today," said Li, the world No 17. "I was able to keep my nerves in control this time so I'm very happy.

"I played Ratchanok many times last year and I had never won a game off her, so I think I was well prepared and I was just very focused and tried not to rush."

Women's top seed Tai Tzuying of Chinese Taipei was tested by India's Saina Nehwal but eventually came out on top, 21-14, 21-18.