Kidambi Srikanth went down fighting to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 21-19, 14-21, 18-21 in the semi-finals of the Canada Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Calgary on Saturday.
Later in the day, eight-seeded Indian men's doubles pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and K Sai Pratheek will be up against second seeds Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth capped a remarkable campaign with a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters Super in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, going down in straight games to China's world No. 4 Li Shi Feng in the men's singles final.
Two-time Olympic medallist and fourth seed PV Sindhu made a positive start to her title defence on Wednesday, beating Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland 21-9, 21-16 in a lopsided opening round women's singles match.
With Srikanth's defeat, the Indian challenge in Hong Kong also came to an end.
Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George won their respective men's singles round-of 16 matches to advance to the quarterfinals late on Thursday night.
The Indian men's team is searching for its maiden medal at the tournament. No Indian men's team has ever reached the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup.
Srikanth needed 35 minutes to get the better of local hope Vittinghus 21-16, 21-10 in the opening round of the US$7,75,000 tournament.
Three Indians will feature in the semi-finals of the French Open Super Series badminton tournament after Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu won their quarter-final matches in Paris on Friday.
Kidambi Srikanth staged a magnificent comeback to beat five-time World champion Lin Dan of China 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 and enter the men's singles quarter-finals at the Denmark Open on Thursday night. The No.6-ranked Indian ace will meet compatriot Sameer Verma on Friday.
Kidambi Srikanth entered the men's singles semi-finals at the Hong Kong Open after fifth seed Chen Long of China decided to quit the contest owing to an injury, in Hong Kong, on Friday.
Srikanth fought hard for 55 minutes against second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei
Former World No 1 Srikanth, who has not won a title at the BWF World Tour in the last 22 months, staved off a spirited a challenge from Ireland's Nhat Nguyen, winning 17-21, 21-16, 21-6 in a match that lasted an hour and six minutes to join Praneeth and Prannoy in the second round.
Srikanth lost to Ireland's unseeded player Nguyen Nhat 11-21, 21-15, 12-21
Kidambi Srikanth continued his good run as he routed Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-13 in the final to clinch the French Open Super Series title on Sunday.
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up an upset win over the World No 8 and second-seeded Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the opening round.
P V Sindhu ended her campaign with a consolation win at the BWF World Tour Finals but Kidambi Srikanth had a disappointing finish
Srikanth eyes elusive Asian Games medal, hopes to be third time lucky
India ace Kidmabi Srikanth clinched his third Super Series Premier title with a dominating straight-game victory over Korean veteran Lee Hyun II in a lop-sided final of the US $750,000 Denmark Open, in Odense, on Sunday.
Srikanth made a good start in the second game, moving to 7-3 advantage but Lee once again turned the tables, jumping to 13-9 and kept his nose ahead to eventually shut the doors on the Indian.
'I have to be more consistent in the coming months,' Kidambi Srikanth, who won the Indonesia Super Series Premier and the Australia Super Series earlier this year and the Denmark Open on Sunday, tells Amit Kumar Das in Odense, Denmark.
Chirag said "it is difficult to stay motivated" in such uncertain times.
Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina got the better of two-time World champion Marin 22-20, 21-18 and in the process avenged her second round defeat to the Spanish ace at the Japan Open.
After Srikanth was ousted 9-21, 11-21 by reigning world champion Kento Momota of Japan, third seed Sindhu went down fighting 11-21, 21-11, 15-21 to World No. 6 Chen Yufei of China in a hard-fought contest, which lasted 52 minutes.
Srikanth, a former world number one, was left with a bloodied nose after going through multiple COVID tests ahead of the YONEX Thailand Open earlier this year.
P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have been given the top billing in the respective women's and men's singles badminton competitions of the Commonwealth Games
Serena faces hard-hitting Giorgi in first round while former World No Hewitt play his final grand slam
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Kidambi Srikanth is against any drastic changes in the scoring system being contemplated by the world body.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
The 25-year-old Indian, who clinched the Indonesia Open and Australian Open this year, besides reaching the final of the Singapore Open, defeated Wong 21-18, 21-17 at the Odense Sports Park.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Indian challenge ended at the Hong Kong Open World Tour Super 500 tournament after Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma lost their respective men's singles quarterfinal matches on Friday.
Srikanth or Sindhu? Advani or Kohli? Or will a 21 year old pip the stars? Vote and tell us who your favourite Indian sportsperson of the year is.
India badminton team have been accorded the top seed this time and are clubbed with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Scotland in Group A.
Looking back, the Indians had rubbed their hands in delight at the variety of marquee events at home the sporting calendar of 2017 offered, and they now look forward, with optimism and anticipation, to a challenging 2018.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
