Chinese veteran shuttler Chen Hong displayed daunting prowess on Thursday when he beat the odds to upset reigning titlist Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles third round of World Badminton Championships.

The seventh seed, who lost seven times and won only once against Taufik in their previous encounters, staged a spectacular comeback to win the thrilling epic 14-21, 21-18, 21-19.

Chen waved his clenched fist yelling when his unseeded Indonesian rival netted a return to end the 51-minute clash.

After losing the first game, the 26-year-old Chen changed his tactics managing to frustrate Taufik with more net play and ensued powerful smash.

"It's a confidence booster," said the elated Chen. "Though I lost to him more times before, that did not affect me. I was confident that I can beat him now. I think I was much more confident than him in the last two games.

"There was some air turbulence blowing from the side in the first game, and it disrupted my game as I had to play cautiously, maybe too cautiously, thus giving him some chances," he said.

Taufik, who seemed distraught, cleared out after the game snubbing all media interview requests. In the quarterfinals, Chen will play Denmark veteran Peter Gade who beat Shoji Sato 21-14, 21-13.

"The win over Taufik buoyed up my confidence quite a lot, so I am now sure that I will play another good match tomorrow," Chen said.

Chen cleared a big hurdle in Taufik for his teammates Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin, who all reached the final eight, in their way to win the title.

Second-seeded Lin Dan met no trouble in brushing aside South Korean Park Sung Hwan 21-16, 21-12, while the third seed Chen Jin toiled for 57 minutes to beat Kuan Beng Hong of Malaysia 21-18, 18-21, 21-18.

The seventh seed Bao, who beat Kuncoro Sony Dwi of Indonesia 21-14, 21-19, will face top seed Lee Chongwei in the quarterfinals with a lopsided head-to-head records.

According to the statistics provided by the international badminton governing body IBF, Bao lost all his past six meetings with the 23-year-old Malaysian player.

"The statistics are skewed. Though I lost on more occasions, I also beat him some times," Bao said.

"Both my mental and physical conditions are good now, I have done anything possible to prepare for the match. I will go all out to play him," Bao said.

Lee dispatched Joachim Persson of Denmark 21-16, 21-12 and found himself in a comfortable position against Bao.

"I think I have beaten him seven times in a row, so that will give me a psychological edge in tomorrow's match," he said.

On the women's side, top seed Zhang Ning trounced Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 21-13, 21-13 to reach the singles quarterfinals.

Next, the 31-year-old reigning Olympic champion will meet England's Tracey Hallam, who beat Monthila Meemek of Thailand 21-12, 21-7.

"I feel very satisfied about my performance, you can see I am very confident now," Zhang said.

Zhang was joined in the final eight by the second seed Xu Huaiwen of Germany and her Chinese teammate Xie Xingfang, the third seed.

Xu saw off the challenge from Japanese Eriko Hirose to win by 21-19, 21-10, while defending titlist Xie beat Tine Rasmussen of Denmark 21-14, 21-6.

The fourth seed Wang Chen of Chinese Hong Kong fell before the quarterfinals as she lost to Petra Overzier of Germany 22-20, 4-21, 22-20.

Chinese players reigned supreme in the women's doubles competition after they clinched all the top four slots. Chinese contingent's head coach Li Yongbo warned his players against complacency.

"We don't enjoy as much advantage as before in the women's doubles this time," he said.

"I can see some potential challenges from our rivals, and they could make some trouble in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2006)