DORTMUND, GERMANY - South Korea's women team caused a surprise in the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships by beating Japan 3-2 after a tight thriller here on Friday.

Japan's Ai Fukuhara started by beating Kim Kyung Ah 3-2 after five hard fought sets (11-4, 10-12, 10-12, 11-8,  11-9) and Kasumi Ishikawa followed with a 3-2 win over Seok Ha Jung (11-7, 9-11, 11- 7, 6-11, 11-6).

Dang Ye brought the Koreans, fifth seeded, back in the match by overcoming Sayaka Hirano with a 3-1 win (9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11) and Then Seok Ha Jung had no problems with Fukuhara (11-6, 11-8, 11-7).

The decisive match was between Kasumi Ishikawa and Kim Kyung Ah, with the latter taking the win 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 14-12). Next up for South Korea are Singapore or Germany.

"I should have got two points," Fukuhara said. "But actually I won one match and lost the other. So I feel very sad. We have gained five bronze medals before and we hoped to reach the final this time, but we failed. I am very sorry."