Peter Gade, after his win over Chetan Anand in Sendai on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Tokyo: India bowed out of the Thomas Cup on Wednesday after losing 0-3 to European powerhouse Denmark at the quarter final stage.

India were always expected to struggle against the might of world No. 3 Peter Gade and No. 7 Kenneth Jonassen, alongwith the top doubles combination in the world ? Jons Erikson and Martin Hansen ? and the Scandinavians proved their superiority by wrapping up the tie without conceding a game.

India’s top shuttler Chetan Anand, who missed the tie against Germany due to injury, was back on court but could not pose any challenge to Gade in the opening rubber, going down 21-14, 21-8 in 28 minutes.

National champion Anup Sridhar went down to Jonassen 21-12, 21-11 in just 34 minutes in the second match.

The doubles combination of Rupesh Kumar and V. Diju gave a good account of themselves against Erikson and Hansen before losing 21-14, 21-19 in 34 minutes to hand over the victory to Denmark.

Nevertheless, Indians would return home satisfied as they achieved what they had set out to do. Coach Vimal Kumar had set his eyes on a quarter final berth and it was mainly due to his meticulous planning that his team reached the last eight at the prestigious men’s team championship.

World number ones Lin Dan and Zhang Ning spearheaded China’s quarter-final victories at the Thomas and Uber Cup Badminton Championships.

Lin needed some time before getting used to the lights and the draught caused by the air conditioner, but went on to beat Andrew Smith 18-21, 21-12, 21-12 in the opening match of China’s 3-0 win over England in the men’s event.

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng put China two up by beating Kristian Roebuck and Ian Palethorpe 21-14, 21-12. Bao Chunlai’s 21-12, 21-15 win over Nicholas Kidd secured the best-of-five Thomas Cup quarter final tie.

Athens Olympic gold medallist Zhang beat Li Li 21-18, 21-18 before Jiang Yanjiao and the pairing of Gao Ling and Huang Sui secured China’s 3-0 victory over Singapore in their Uber Cup quarter final clash.

“In the 21-point system, there are some unexpected points you lose. I made some errors when I was leading in the first game, and it was my first match at this gymnasium,” said Lin.

“But I was able to play in my own rhythm in the second and third games after I got used to the lights and wind.”

Zhang, who needed 114 minutes to beat Li, struggled to find her rhythm. “Although I won, I’m not satisfied with my play at all, I should have won it by a bigger points differential. I was not speedy today,” said Zhang.

“The lights and wind here are not good for badminton, but it’s the same for both players. It’s a question of which player can get used to the conditions quicker,” she added.

In the semi-finals on Friday, Chinese men will take on 13-time champions Indonesia, the winners over hosts Japan 3-1.

Japan’s three-time national champion Shoji Sato caused the biggest upset by downing world and Athens Olympics champion Taufik Hidayat 20-22, 21-16, 24-23 in the opener, thrilling a sellout partisan crowd of 10,000.

“It was a surprise for me. I felt I was still playing at the moment I won. I understood I did it when I saw the spectators’ reaction,” said Sato.

The Chinese women, looking forward to their fifth straight and 10th overall Uber Cup, will play Germany, the winners over Hong Kong 3-2.