BIRMINGHAM, England, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Both men's and women's Olympic champions Chen Long of China and Carolina Marin of Spain crashed out at the quarterfinals of the All England Open badminton championships here on Friday.
Chen, who won the title here in 2013 and 2015, was defeated by Chinese compatriot Shi Yuqi 21-10, 21-17 while women's fifth seed Marin, the 2015 winner, lost to second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-15, 21-18.
The fourth-seeded Chen was overpowered in the first game, trailing 4-0, 11-3 and never recovering in front of a pacy and in-form a 22-year-old Shi, who finished runner-up in last year's competition.
The 29-year-old Chen managed to find his form in the second game, levelling the score at 15-15 and pulling ahead 16-15 as Shi made some mistakes.
But Shi, the seventh seed, fought back with some powerful smashing shots and sealed the victory 21-17.
"My teammate played really well," said Chen, who was stopped at the quarterfinals for the third year in a row. "He was more aggressive on the court. Especially in the second game when I was 16-15 down, there was a net call, that was a vital point to lose. But I genuinely want to congratulate him and hope he can play well and win tomorrow."
Shi was satisfied with his own performance, saying, "The first game was quite an easy game, the second was more tough, but it was still a good match."
He will next face the either fifth seed Son Wan Ho of South Korea or Japan's Kenta Nishimoto.
"I will do my best for tomorrow's semifinal and then hopefully get into the final. Both possible opponents are very good but I think I have a 50% chance of winning the next match."
Women's singles defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei advanced to the semifinals with a 21-12, 21-13 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori and set up a clash with China's Chen Yufei, who defeated Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt 21-17, 21-12.
"Every time I play Chen Yufei it is a hard match," Tai said. "I will try to make less mistakes and challenge her. I hope to play at least as well as I did today."
