KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Ng Tze Yong created the biggest upset so far in the All England when he defeated world and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen to reach the All England quarter-finals in Birmingham on Thursday.
World No 28 Tze Yong fought tooth-and-nail to dethrone Axelsen, the defending champion, 21-15, 9-21, 23-21 in a tight last-16 match.
Tze Yong showed composure and maturity throughout the game.
In the third game, Tze Yong took a four-point lead at 19-15, but the Dane fought back for his first match-point opportunity.
However, Tze Yong, who is coached by Hendrawan, paced himself and converted his first match-point opportunity to win the third game at 23-21 in a match that lasted 69 minutes.
The feat was certainly amazing considering that Tze Yong became only the fourth player to beat the Dane in the past 15 months.
However, Tze Yong does not want to get carried away just yet despite his huge win in the tournament.
"This is definitely my biggest career win so far, but I won't be celebrating yet as the tournament is far from over," said Tze Yong.
"My focus is now on my next match," Tze Yong told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Tze Yong was proud of how he had handled himself during the crucial stages despite allowing Axelsen to storm back from 19-15 down in the third game.
"As an experienced player, Axelsen had the edge. He knew exactly how to handle things.
"He played a patient game and focused on his defence while I was quite nervous and too eager to win points.
"I'm glad that I was able to win in the end," he said.
The other three players were India's Lakhsya Sen, Singapore's Loh Kean Yew and Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Tze Yong will play China's Li Shi Feng for a place in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Shi Feng defeated compatriot Zhao Jun Peng 21-9, 21-17.
Meanwhile, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing failed to clear their respective men's doubles and mixed doubles matches.
Eight seeds Yew Sin-Ee Yi went down 21-18, 21-18 to defending champions Muhammad Shobihul Fikir-Bagas Maulana while Kian Meng-Pei Jing too failed to live up to their billing as the sixth seeds after being ousted by Japan's Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo 21-12, 11-21, 21-19.