ZAGREB - Romanian Daniela Dodean on Thursday handed a straight-set defeat to Japanese Ai Fukuhara, one of the most popular table tennis players in the world.

Japan's Ai Fukuhara reacts after losing to Romania's Daniela Dodean during their fourth round match of Table Tennis World Championships May 24, 2007. [sportsphoto]

Dodean, ranked 63rd in the world, stunned the 11th-rated Japanese 12-10,11-9, 11-8, 11-9 to reach the women's singles fourth round of the world championships.

Feted as a child prodigy from the age of three, Fukuhara reached the quarter-finals in her first world championships in 2003 when she was not even 15. In 2004, she helped Japan to a third-placed finish but she is yet to win an individual medal.

In Zagreb, her dream was dashed again.

Against the fast Fukuhara, Dodean was patient. She lured Fukuhara to attack first and then courter-attacked with killer shots.

Fukuhara looked even more impatient as the match went on. In the fourt set, Fukuhara missed an easy kill to trail 8-10 but closed it to 9-10 as Dodean hit into the net. A wayward shot by Fukuhara sent the Romanian into the fourth round.