Praneeth loses in quarters, Indian challenge ends

India's challenge at the ongoing China Open World Tour Super 1000 badminton tournament came to an end on Friday after B Sai Praneeth went down fighting to World No 9 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the quarter-finals. Praneeth lost 21-16, 6-21, 16-21 in a match that lasted for 55 minutes at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.

The Indonesian gave a tough fight to Praneeth in the first game. However, the Indian shuttler kept his cool and went on to win it 21-16. The World No 9 came back strongly in the second game, winning it by a big margin and forced the match into the decider.

In the final game, the Indian shuttler looked on course to proceed to the semi-finals at one stage as he led 12-7. However, he lost the rhythm and eventually lost 16-21 to crash out of the tournament.