The 64-year-old has become a crowd favourite during the Paralympic Games but even his strong serve could not prevent Austria from losing 3-1 to the Republic of Korea, who now face defending champions China in the semi-finals of the men's Class 3.

Kim Jeong Seok was the difference with two impressive individual 3-0 victories, and he said: 'The Austrian player (Kramminger) is a really good server, an ace. So we practised our receiving and that's how we won the match.'

Germany defeated Argentina 3-1 in their quarter-final, with Thomas Bruechle being their standout performer, and they now face France, who won with the same scoreline against Spain.

The reigning Class 1-2 champions, Slovakia, beat Brazil 3-0 thanks to a dominant display from Jan Riapos and they now face Austria, who beat Italy 3-1, while France saw off Ireland 3-0 and now face the Republic of Korea - who received a bye into the semi-finals.

Riapos said: 'I think we have a good chance. Austria are a very strong team. We've always beaten them in the past, but every game starts at 0-0.'

The other event which saw quarter-finals was the women's Class  4-5, which saw China, Serbia, the Republic of Korea and Sweden all win their respective matches 3-0.

All other Table Tennis events in the Team event on Day 7 were in the early stages, with the standout match coming in the men's Class 9-10 competition where Athens 2004 champions the Netherlands nearly became victims of the first major upset as they were pushed all the way to the Doubles by Egypt. Eventually they won 3-2 but they will need to raise their game against China if they are to progress further.