Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championships bronze medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the quarter-finals, but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei at the India Open Super Series in Delhi on Thursday.
Sindhu was a little circumspect and committed a few unforced errors before surpassing Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungphan 17-21, 21-19, 21-16 in a women's singles match that lasted 76 minutes.
She will next take on Korea's Bae Yeon Ju, who beat Japan's Yui Hashimoto 21-16, 21-10 in another match.
Later in the day, Saina saw off Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand, winning 21-19, 21-14 to set up a clash with Korean fifth seed Sung Ji Hyun.
However, the highlight of the day was the stunning defeats of two-time silver medallist Lee Chong Wei and five-time World Champion Lin Dan, considered to be the biggest contenders for a gold medal at the Rio Games.
While Korea's Son Wan Ho stunned six-time All-England champion Lin Dan of China, seeded fourth, 21-13, 22-20, former world No. 1 Lee, the top seed, suffered a 19-21, 19-21 loss to Hong Kong's Wei Nan, ranked world No. 14.
Two more top 10 players bit the dust in the men’s singles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
While Xue Song saw off Denmark Jan O Jorgensen, seeded third, 21-18, 15-21, 21-14 to emerge as the only surviving Chinese in the men's singles, Germany's Marc Zwiebler stunned Chinese seventh seed Tian Houwei, who had reached the final of the All-England Championship, 18-21, 21-19, 23-21 in a thrilling men's singles contest.
Among other Indians, Rituparna Das sank without trace against fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 9-21, 4-21 in just 21 minutes in a women's singles match.
In women's doubles, Mohita Sahdev and Sanjana Santosh defeated compatriot Ch Poornima and Rachita Sahdev 21-16, 21-7.
They will meet the Japanese combo of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao.
Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a 19-21, 12-21 defeat to Chinese Taipei's Chen Hung Ling and Chi-Lin Wang, while Jishnu Sanyal and Shivam Sharma lost 17-21, 15-21 to Chinese Taipei's Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin in another men's doubles match.
The Indian pair of Gauri Asaji and Karishma Wadkar also suffered an embarrassing 5-21, 7-21 loss to top seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia, while Manu and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 10-21, 17-21 to the Chinese pair of Zhang Wen and Jia Yifan.
