BIRMINGHAM - Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat tottered on the brink against Vietnamese qualifier Tien Minh Nguyen on Thursday before edging into the All England quarter-finals.
Taufik trailed 19-15 in the deciding game but hung on to win six points in succession and clinch the match 21-17 15-21 21-19.
It was a big scare for the Indonesian against a qualifier ranked 37 in the world but Nguyen, one of Vietnam's most successful sportsmen, has various big wins to his credit, including once beating Taufik.
The Olympic champion now meets Malaysian second seed Lee Chong Wei who eased into the last eight with a comfortable 21-18 21-11 success over unseeded Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.
Winner of the Malaysian Open in January and three other Super Series tournaments last year, Lee is seeking his first title at the All Englands, still viewed as one of the sport's most prestigious events.
In the other half of the draw, top seed and defending champion Lin Dan of China breezed past Dutch qualifier Eric Pang 21-9 21-12 and now plays fifth-seeded Dane Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark.
In the women's event, Chinese-born Frenchwoman Pi Hongyan reached the quarter-finals with an easy 21-7 22-20 victory over unseeded Anna Rice of Canada.
Pi could be forgiven for already eyeing the title after the shock first round exit of the top two seeds -- title holder Xie Xingfang and Chinese compatriot and Olympic champion Zhang Ning.