Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second.
The Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider, however, as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory.
“If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the current world number four. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game, it was disappointing but that is how it is.”
“I just tried to survive in the match,” he added. “There is always a lot of pressure when I am here at the All England and every single day, and I got tense when my body was feeling bad and it affected my entire game.”
Elsewhere, Yushi Tanaka got the better of eighth seed Kodai Naraoka in an all-Japanese men’s match.
In the women’s singles, top-seeded South Korean and 2023 winner An Se-young made serene progress with a 21-16 21-14 win over Gao Fangjie of China.
Former champion Chen Yufei also advanced and her Chinese compatriot and second seed Wang Zhiyi knocked out two-time winner Nozomi Okuhara. (AFP)
