The 15-year-old Ito, seeded fourth, had come into the tournament off the back of a stunning win over world champion Ding Ning but was unable to replicate that display as Hirano emerged with a 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 11-6 triumph to reach the quarter-finals.

Yu Mengyu of Singapore also sprung a surprise at the event as the 16th seed ended the pursuit of the Polish Open crown of South Korea’s Seo Hyo-won by claiming a 7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 success.

There were no such worries for Japanese top seed Kasumi Ishikawa as she progressed to the last eight in relatively straightforward 11-7, 11-3, 11-9, 11-13, 11-8 victory against team-mate Misaki Morizono.

Germany’s Han Ying got the better of South Korea’s Jeon Jihee as the fourth seed progressed by virtue of a 11-3, 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4 win.

In the men’s draw, the giant-killings continued when Kenji Matsudaira overcame Jung Youngsik, the South Korean sixth seed, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9.

The result for the Japanese competitor saw him reach the quarter-finals of an ITTF World Tour event for only the fourth time in his career.

He will be joined in the last eight by team-mate and number two seed Jun Mizutani, who proved too strong for Portugal’s João Geraldo as he secured a 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-2 victory.

Success for one brother but defeat for the other as Kenta Matsudaira, seeded ninth, was dumped out of the competition by Maharu Yoshimura, who was on the right side of a 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 scoreline.

The home crowd were then left disappointed as Japan’s Taku Takakiwa accounted for Polish qualifier Robert Floras 11-9, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.

The tournament in Warsaw is due to continue tomorrow.