Srikanth Kidambi battled hard against Germany's Marc Zwiebler but went down 21-18, 14-21, 19-21 in the quarter-final of the Japan Open in Tokyo on Friday. Zweibler, ranked 15th in the world, got the better of India's highest ranked men's singles player in the final stages of the first and the third games to progress to the last four, ending India's journey in Tokyo.
Srikanth won the first game after Zwiebler raced away into the lead early into the game. The 23-year-old Indian made a rousing comeback after being 4-11 down in the game at one stage. Zwiebler made a strong comeback in the second game to take the game to the decider.
Zwiebler now goes on to play top seed, Lee Chong Wei on Saturday in the semi-final. Kidambi beat Parupalli Kashyap in the first round while Ajay Jayaram withdrew from their second round match.