China had always secured a podium finish in the men's singles tournament at the Asian Games since making their Asian Games debut in 1974,
But early exits by former World No. 1 Shi Yu Qi and defending champion Li Shi Feng marked a new low point in the country's tournament history.
It was all the more difficult to accept for the Chinese camp, as Yu Qi and world No. 12 Shi Feng faced each other in the gold medal match at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, where the latter triumphed.
In Japan, world No. 6 Yu Qi suffered a straight-game defeat to South Korea's unheralded Yoo Tae Bin in the last 16 on Saturday.
Tae Bin, the world No. 46, made the most of his upset by defeating Japan's world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka 12-21, 21-5, 21-11 in the quarter-finals and booked his semi-final ticket.
China have won the most men's singles gold medals at the Games with eight, while Indonesia is second with seven.
Tae Bin is now set to face Singapore's world No. 13 Loh Kean Yew, the former world champion who defeated Indonesia's world No. 1 Jonatan Christie 21-14, 21-19, for a place in the final.
2024 Paris Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn will now target another major title when he meets Indonesian star Alwi Farhan in the other semi-final.
