For 20 remarkable minutes on Friday, India's Anup Sridhar, the man who beat Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat on Wednesday, looked as though he might just dish out the same to world champion Lin Dan.

Tall and elegant, unseeded and unheralded, Sridhar, 24, battled the world number one all the way in the first set of their world championships quarter-final clash.

At times, the Chinese player looked pained as some heavily disguised cross-court shots simply left him standing.

Sridhar's delicate touch at the net, a superb reach and the noisy Malaysian crowd deciding to cheer the underdog were piling the pressure on defending champion Lin.

Suddenly it was 20-19 to Sridhar, game point and the prospect of another major shock.

Time, though, for a shot of a champion, a fine effort down the line, and it was level. Within 30 seconds Lin had clinched the set 22-20. His opponent, sensing maybe he would never have such a chance again, threw his racket to the ground in despair.

World ranked 41, he may be right.

In the second set, Lin raced 7-1 clear and at 15-6 there was no way back, the Chinese sailing home 22-20, 21-9.

Sridhar heads home after an extraordinary 48 hours.

Lin now meets compatriot Bao Chunlai in the semi-finals on Saturday in a repeat of last year's final in Madrid.

His victory can have given no one greater pleasure than coach Li Yongbo, who criticised the world champion in June over what he saw as a lack of focus after Lin lost a Sudirman Cup match in Glasgow.

On Friday, Li was generous with his applause as Lin negotiated the difficult first set and when it was all over the two men briefly "high-fived", rift over.

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