SINGAPORE - The world's top shuttler Chen Long's celebration of a breakthrough at the OUE Singapore Open turned out to be short-lived, as the No. 1 was given the boot in the quarter-finals on Friday afternoon.
Chen was beaten in straight games 21-14, 21-18 by Hong Kong's world No. 14 Angus Ng. The two had met just once before, with the tie at the 2013 Badminton Asia Championships going Chen's way.
Said Chen, who held a 14-7 lead in the second game but lost the next 10 points: "Perhaps I thought I had a strong lead and was going to win the second game and probably didn't play as rigorously.
"I'm still pretty satisfied with how I've done here in Singapore. It's still just a Superseries event. There are many tournaments in a year."
Chen had failed to get past the second round in two previous Singapore Open appearances.
The women's singles also saw the world's top player being booted out at the quarter-final stage. World No. 1 Carolina Marin was beaten 13-21, 21-18, 21-18 by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, the world No. 11.
Trailing 12-17 in the rubber, Marin had mounted a strong comeback to score six straight points, but fell in the end to a fast-attacking and fearless Yamaguchi.
Said Yamaguchi, 18: "It didn't matter to me that I was trailing one game. I was not concerned by the score and I just wanted to play each point as they come."
She will face an in form Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the semi-finals, after the Thai beat team-mate Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-12, 21-18.
Defending champion Sun Yu stayed on course in her bid to retain her women's singles title, edging sixth seed Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea 21-15, 19-21, 21-19. She will play team-mate He Bingjiao on Saturday, after He defeated former Singapore shuttler Zhang Beiwen 21-16, 21-15.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan overcame a strong challenge from 2013 Singapore Open champion Tommy Sugiarto, winning 21-18, 21-14. He will play qualifier Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the semi-finals on Saturday.