Badminton powerhouse China was in deeper water with fourth-seeded Zhu Lin thrashed by Tine Rasmussen of Denmark 21-14, 21-15 in the second round of All England championship on Thursday.
Chinese women's domination seems shaky as Jiang Yanjiao also lost to Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo, following the shock first-round exits of top two seeds - Xie Xingfang, winner of the last three years, and Olympic champion Zhang Ning.
Number three seed Lu Lan became the sole Chinese player into women's last eight thanks to her compatriot Wang Yihan's withdrawal citing injury.
Furthermore, top-seeded men's pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China became the biggest casualty of the day after being ousted by unseeded Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama of Chinese Hong Kong.
"I think my play was very good today. I did my best to beat her, " said Rasmussen.
"I was successful in putting pressure at net and pushing her to the backline," she added.
The unseeded Dane also won their last meeting in January's Malaysia Open final, beating Zhu 18-21, 21-19, 21-18.
"I had no secrets (dealing with her). She played a bit different from the others but I simply fit her style."
Rasmussen will face another challenge from Pi Hongyan of France in the quarterfinals. The Chinese-born sixth seed defeated Canada's Anna Rice 21-7, 22-20.
Yip Pui Yin of Chinese Hong Kong failed to follow up her dark horse performance of eliminating Xie Xingfang and was stopped by South Korean Hwang Hye Youn 21-15, 23-21.
Chinese Hong Kong veteran Wang Chen also advanced with a 21-17, 14-21, 21-18 win over Shao-Cheh Cheng from Chinese Taipei, while the other two quarterfinal berths went to seventh-seeded Xu Huaiwen of Germany, and Japan's Yu Hirayama, who upset Netherlands' veteran Yao Jie in straight games.
Men's singles went without major upsets but Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia survived a deciding game scare to conquer Vietnam's qualifier Nguyen Tien Minh 21-17, 15-21, 21-19.
Taufik will next meet Malaysia's number one Lee Chong Wei, who eased into a 21-18, 21-11 win over qualifier Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.
Top-seeded Lin Dan of China had no trouble booking his place in the quarterfinals as he slaughtered Eric Pang of the Netherlands 21-9, 21-12.
His compatriot Bao Chulai won a hard-fought all-Chinese clash against Chen Yu, struggling from 15-9 down in the final game to wrap up a 21-11, 10-21, 21-18 victory.
Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen, the No. 5 seed, survived a tough match against Japan's Sho Sasaki to keep European hopes alive.
Men's doubles has now been left wide open with only three seeded pairs reaching the last stage.
Fifth-seeded Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya, 2000 Sydney Olympic champions, were also out after losing to South Koreans Hwang Ji Man/ Lee Jae Jin 21-9, 21-17.
The first-round casualties included reigning champions Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia and second-seeded Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2008)