Kidambi Srikanth fought hard but it wasn’t enough as he lost 22-20, 13-21, 16-21 to Taiwanese second seed Chou Tien Chen in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open on Friday.
The result also marked the end of India’s campaign at the tournament.
Srikanth won the first game after a tight battle. Both players were neck and neck for the most part but the Indian raised his game at just the right time.
Even in the second game, Srikanth remained in the contest till the halfway stage but from there on, Chou Tien Chen started to pull away.
The Taiwanese player showed incredible defensive skills and reflexes to win most of the long rallies. He was clearly the fitter of the two players and that helped him immensely as the match progressed.
Srikanth put up a brave fight in the decider but Chou Tien Chen was in the lead from the start and managed to close out the match comfortably at the end.
India’s Lakshya Sen had made it to the second round but the 19-year-old lost his match against Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-15, 7-21, 17-21 on Thursday.
In Srikanth’s second round match, he had defeated Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue 21-15, 21-14 in 32 minutes.