Big names out but the biggest, Lin Dan, still in
Japan teenager Yamaguchi books spot in women's semi-finals; China's ace stays strong in men's singles
It has been billed as the tournament's most glamorous edition of recent years, but last night, the 2016 OUE Singapore Open lost some of its star power as both the men's and women's world No. 1s were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Just over four hours after Chen Long, the top seed in the men's singles, crashed out, Spain's Carolina Marin suffered a same fate at the Singapore Indoor Stadium as her bid to win the women's singles came to an end at the hands of Japan's 18-year-old prodigy, Akane Yamaguchi.
Nonetheless, in what will be a huge relief to the fans, the biggest name in the draw - China's two-time Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan - will be around for the weekend after beating Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto 21-18, 21-14 to book his spot in today's semi-finals.
Sugiarto did put up a strong challenge, but Lin never lost his composure to advance.
The same cannot be said for Marin, who took to Court 1 just before him.
Despite getting off to a strong start, she was left visibly frustrated as Yamaguchi proved equal to everything that was thrown at her en-route to a 13-21, 21-18, 21-18 victory.
Her frustration was clear from her matter-of-fact answers after the match, as she looked to finish her media obligations quickly and head straight back to the dressing room.
"Of course, I'm very much disappointed right now as I would have liked to win," said the two-time reigning world champion.
"The match was going well in the first game but then she (Yamaguchi) started playing better than me at the net.
"Now I will have to prepare by playing some more tournaments (in preparation for) the Olympic Games."
Yamaguchi was equally uncomfortable facing the media after her triumph but for completely different reasons.
Appearing even more precocious than her 18 years as she nervously waited for questions to be translated, the world No. 10, said: "Actually, I wasn't really concerned about being behind on the scoreboard.
"All I was thinking about was trying to catch up point by point.
"This win does give me confidence but now I have to step up even more... I want to be playing against these top players in semi-finals and even finals, not just in the quarter-finals.
"Ratchanon was the champion last week and the week before and I'm heading into the clash as the challenger, so I'll just focus on winning as many points as possible."
Yamaguchi will face former world champion Ratchanok Intanon in the semi-final, and the Thai is in fine form after back-to-back victories at the India Open and Malaysia Open in the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, Lin will be hoping to show the same resolve as he did against Sugiarto when he takes on another Indonesian opponent in Sony Dwi Kuncoro today.
The 32-year-old said: "I felt I played better as the match wore on.
"The important thing was that I didn't allow myself to get frustrated or feel like the match was getting out of my control.
"He (Kuncoro) played really well in his match today (Friday) but I hope I will do well against him."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
