Lim, the 11th seed, came within a whisker of causing an upset, seeing a match point come and go before ultimately falling to an 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-14 loss at the ITTF World Tour Platinum event at Sajik Arena.

Awaiting fourth seed Ma in the last eight is Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson, who beat eighth-seeded compatriot and world silver medallist Mattias Falck 7-11, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8.

The most notable casualty in the men’s singles today was home favourite and defending champion Jang Woo-jin following an 8-11, 10-12, 4-11, 4-11 defeat against fellow countryman Jeoung Young-sik.

Jeoung’s reward is a meeting with top-seeded Chinese Fan Zhendong, who overcame Spain’s Álvaro Robles 11-2, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.

Second seed Xu Xin is also through thanks to an 11-3, 8-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 win over Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna.

Standing between him and a place in the last four is fifth-seeded compatriot Liang Jingkun, an 8-11, 18-16, 11-8, 16-18, 15-13, 11-7 victor at the expense of South Korea’s Cho Seung-min.

In the women's singles, reigning world champion Liu Shiwen was eliminated at the last-16 stage after losing 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11 against fellow Chinese Sun Yingsha.

Next up for Sun is sixth-seeded Japanese Kasumi Ishikawa, who beat compatriot Saki Shibata 11-6, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-5.

Also exiting the competition today was eighth seed Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei after she lost 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11 against South Korea's Jeon Ji-hee.

Jeon will face top-seeded Chinese Ding Ning, who defeated Singapore's Feng Tianwei 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5.

Among the other players through to the quarter-finals is defending champion Zhu Yuling of China.

She overcame Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kem 11-4, 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 to set up a clash with compatriot Chen Meng, an 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 11-8 winner over Japan's Miu Hirano.

Action in Busan is due to continue tomorrow.