Danish badminton player Camilla Martin lost in the round of 16 yesterday in surprising fashion.

Martin, the no.7 seed, had been upset at several major tournaments earlier in the year, but the shocker was that she lost to a fellow European, Tracey Hallam of Great Britain, 11-2, 5-11, 13-10.

For the past decade, Martin had been the most dominant non-Asian woman among the badminton elite, and had said before the Olympics that it would be another decade before she foresaw a successor. Martin, the 2000 Olympic silver medalist and reigning badminton sex symbol, was the sentimental favorite competing in her fourth and final Olympic tournament at age 30. In Athens, she was expecting to tangle with the Chinese women seeded nos. 1, 2, and 3 – all of whom advanced to the quarterfinals.

Until yesterday, the unseeded Hallam had never been able to take a game from Martin. For the unheralded 29-year-old Brit to win two games and eliminate Martin, was what she called, “the most cherished moment for me.”

In the quarterfinals today, Hallam will meet another former Olympic medalist, Mia Audina. In Atlanta, Audina won silver for her native Indonesia to become the youngest Olympic badminton medalist ever, at 16. Now competing for the Netherlands (her country by marriage), the no. 4 seed should have no problem against the Olympic rookie, Hallam.