Two of China's best women's players tumbled out of the Indonesia Open Superseries quarter-finals on Friday, boosting the hopes of the rest of the field with the London Olympics six weeks away.
Indian star Saina Nehwal, the fifth seed in Jakarta, beat China's third-seeded Wang Shixian 21-17, 21-23, 21-19 in a high-quality contest.
And South Korea's unseeded Sung Ji-Hyun went one better, defeating the second seed Wang Xin 21-16, 21-17, underlining the notion that while unbeatable at home, the Chinese women do not always travel well.
Nehwal and Sung face each other in the semi-finals.
There was though some good news for China in the form of world number one and top seed Wang Yihan, who beat the seventh-seed Tina Baun from Denmark 21-19, 26-24, while the fourth seed Li Xuerui saw off Germany's Juliane Schenk.
"The match went very smoothly and we both played to the maximum," Wang Yihan said, as she headed into a semi-final clash Saturday with Li.
"There is still time until the Olympics in London and we still need to keep preparing for them. We'll keep working to pursue our goals."
In the men's singles quarter-finals, China's Du Pengyu, seeded eighth, knocked out home player Sony Dwi Kuncoro with a convincing 21-14, 21-15 victory.
"The pressure was there but I knew Sony's skills were the same level as mine. I just played all-out today. As the only Chinese men's singles player left, I did my best," Du told reporters.
Kuncoro said: "I failed to push myself throughout the game to play as well as I did on Thursday. Du played well and was in control of the whole game. I got frustrated and lost."
The home crowd did have something to shout about though after Simon Santoso beat compatriot Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka 21-17, 21-7. Santoso will be strongly fancied to beat India's Kashyap Parupalli in the semis.
The other clash will be between Hong Kong's unseeded Hu Yun and Du. The men's competition has seen several shocks as many of the top seeds fell away.
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