Chinese pair Zheng Bo/Gao Ling knocked off the top seeded mixed doubles shuttlers here on Thursday to reach the badminton mixed doubles semifinals at the 15th Asian Games.

Zheng and Gao, only paired up three weeks before the Asian Games, faced great challenges in the quarterfinals as their opponents Nova Widianto and Liliyana from Indonesian were ranked world number one.

In the opening set, Zheng and Gao trailed 3-0 at the beginning but made an 8-7 overtake later. The Chinese pair tied several times with the Indonesian top seed, before closing the set 21-19.

Afterwards, Widianto and Liliyana seemed too depressed to concentrate on the game, losing to the new pair 21-10 in the second set.

"We played well today," said two-time mixed doubles Olympic champion Gao, "Zheng's young and aggressive. His fierce attack was a big threat to our opponents."

The 23-year-old Zheng and 27-year-old Gao finished off seven-seeded Songphon Anukritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul from Thailand in their first ever game together on Wednesday. But Asian Games debutant Zheng's delight for the win was rebated as he felt their opponents were a little bit weak.

In Friday's semifinals, Gao and Zheng are going to fight against Malaysian M Tazari Mohd Fairuzizuan and Wong Pei Tty, who defeated South Korean Lee Jae Jin and Lee Hyo Jung 22-20, 11-21, 21-13

The third-seeded Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen of China wasted little time in defeating Malaysian Koo Kien Keat and Quay Swee Ling 21-9,21-5. The Chinese pair will face second-seeded Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam from Thailand in the semis.