Denmark Open: Kidambi Srikanth loses in quarterfinals, Indian campaign ends

Top Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the Denmark Open badminton tournament with a 22-20, 13-21, 16-21 defeat to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the men's singles quarterfinals here on Friday.

The world number two Taipei player came back after losing the first game and took the next two to win the match in one hour and two minutes and storm into the semifinals.

With the defeat of Srikanth, seeded fifth, India's campaign ended in the USD 750,000 Super 750 tournament, the only world tour event happening this year in a calendar thrown haywire by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Srikanth took the early lead at 7-4 but Chen fought back to 11-10 midway into the first game. The Indian made his way back to 19-19 and then 20-20 before taking the first game 22-20.

The second game saw Chen dominating Srikanth as the Taipei player zoomed ahead from 10-9 to win it 21-13 and take the match to the decider.

Srikanth put up some fight in the early exchanges of the decider but seemed to have lost way later. Chen left the Indian behind to take the third game and wrap up the match.

Lakshya Sen had lost in the second round on Thursday while Subhankar Dey and Ajay Jayram had made first round exits.