Spain travelled to Argentina for an international friendly on Tuesday and were inflicted with only their third defeat since 2006. Argentina trounced the reigning World Champions in a high-scoring encounter that saw them rack up a thrilling 4-1 victory.

Sergio Batista, the caretaker manager for Argentina following the sacking of Diego Maradona, named a decent squad for the friendly which included the likes of Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, while Spain rested some of their big names like Iker Casillas, Xavi and Fernando Torres. However, with David Villa, Cesc Fábregas, Andrés Iniesta and David Silva all included one can hardly blame ‘lack of talent and experience' for their loss.

In a remarkable day of top class Badminton action, the Chinese stamped their mark of authority leaving Pierre de Coubertin covered in glory. Chinese men and women made sure that their journey to Paris will be made memorable by a clean sweep of all five titles on offer, the first time since 1987 that the country has swept everything in view. Taufik Hidayat evoked romantic notions about his ability to turn back the clock, but Jin Chen was clinically efficient in his 21-13 21-15, snub to romance. Among the women, Lin Wang emerged triumphant against Xin Wang after an intense battle of shuttle skills that lasted three sets.

Long in the shadows of his illustrious compatriot Dan Lin, Jin Chen may have finally arrived at the summit of Badminton to create a legacy of his own. He was far too quick for the veteran Indonesian, varying the pace of the game and denying the artist in Hidayat any sort of rhythm to execute his plans. The 2004 Olympic Champion and 2005 World Champion was also beaten by Chen in the same event last year in the semi-finals in Hyderabad. At 29, this may have been his last big chance to stake claim to the biggest trophy in Badminton.

The Red Dragon swooped upon Pierre de Coubertin with a flourish and captured all but two of the final spots on offer in the five events at the 18th edition of the Badminton World Championship in Paris. In a repetition of a recurrent theme (Chinese men have won 9 of the 18 titles, the women 14) they will look to seal the deal on Sunday, after successfully denying the Danes a spot at the high table. China's Jin Chen ensured a red representative in the men's singles by recording a come from behind victory over the amiable Dane Peter Gade 19-21 21-8 21-11. Taufik Hidayat completed the line-up holding off stiff resistance late in the match from the conqueror of the mighty Lin Dan, the Korean Sung Hwan Park.

If Peter Gade fancied his chances of denying the Chinese a place in the men's finals, the fourth ranked Jin Chen took court with his own well laid plans to derail the world number two. With Gade opening up a massive 15-8 lead, it looked like the Dane was in cruise control. Gade was striking exquisite smashes; one was clocked at 247kph, on his way to setting up five game points. But then, against the flow a royal battle ensued between the two - Gade was forced to hold Chen at bay through a tense end game in which Chen saved four game points, before the Dane could seal the game.

On a pristine day in Paris, the cauldron inside Stade Pierre de Coubertin was taken over by the Gallic spirits that so enchanted the world with their unflinching resistance in the face of might and muscle. And they churned out of it upset after mighty upset. It was a bleeding day when the script was tossed aside, along with the leading lights of the tournament. Saina Nehwal betrayed the hopes of a growing legion of fans, besides her own as she came unstuck against her Chinese opponent Shixian Wang. Saina was flat as a floater, in her 8-21 14-21 capitulation that lasted a mere 34 minutes. The Indonesian Taufik Hidayat rediscovered his magic and determination to outlast the world number one Lee Chong Wei 21-15 11-21 21-12, in a see-saw battle that went the distance. Three time champion Lin Dan also suffered an ignominious 21-13 21-13 defeat at the hands of the Korean Park Sung Hwan to round off a tumultuous day at the World Championships.

With the exit of the top ranked woman on Thursday, Saina had a great opportunity to seize the top spot with a couple of victories here, but sadly for her she had an off day at the wrong time. The contest with Wang was even for a while at the beginning and towards the end of the match, but the Chinese was dominant for the most part. In the first game, the score was tied at 6-6 before Wang raced away with 15 of the next seventeen points to snatch the initiative from Saina. The second game saw Wang get away to an 8-2 lead, before Saina dug deep to put up a modicum of resistance. But her fight came too late and the gap remained too far for the world number two to bridge. "My weakness was that I was not moving at all," she said. "Wang was quicker in her movements and she was more attacking at the net."