Lin Dan of China returns the shuttlecock during the men's singles semifinal against Xue Song of China at the 2016 YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, Britain on March 12, 2016. Photo:Xinhua

 
China's Lin Dan will fight for a sixth All-England Championship men's singles title after beating teammate Xue Song to reach Sunday's final on Saturday.

Fifth-seeded Lin, dubbed Super Dan by his fans around the world, came from a game down for the third match in a row to beat 22-year-old Xue 18-21, 21-15, 21-9 to reach his first final since 2012.

"In the last few matches I have made mistakes but I was really pleased how I came back," said Lin, a five-time world champion and double Olympic champion.

"My winter training has really improved things and it has given me plenty of physical reserves."

He will take on another Chinese player Tian Houwei, who beat Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus after three games.

In the women's singles, world champion Carolina Marin of Spain was shocked by Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 11-21, 21-16, 21-14.

Okuhara will become Japan's first women's singles winner since 1977 should she beat twice winner Wang Shixian of China on Sunday.

"I'm aware that the target on my back is getting bigger but I am very excited about that," said Okuhara.

Wang secured her final berth by beating Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 21-23, 21-12, 21-15.

Okuhara's compatriots Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa will play the men's doubles final against Russian duo Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov.

In the mixed doubles, England's Chris and Gabby Adcock missed a first home final as Denmark's Joachim Nielsen and Christinna Pederson reached the final against Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto.

The Indonesian tandem beat world champions and title holders Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China 21-19, 21-16.

The women's doubles will be an affair between Misaki Matsuotomo/Ayaka Takahashi of Japan and Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang of China.