Swiss Open GP: HS Prannoy knocked out by China's Shi Yuqi in quarterfinals

Basel: It was curtains for India at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold after defending champion H S Prannoy was knocked out of the men's singles competition following a straight-game loss to China's Shi Yuqi in the quarterfinals of the USD 120,000 event here.

Fifth seed Prannoy, who had beaten Yuqi at the Badminton Asia Team Championships last year, failed to produce his best game and went down 19-21 11-21 to the second seeded Chinese, who had reached the finals at All England last week.

Earlier, fourth seeded Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also had suffered a 19-21 17-21 loss to fifth seeded Chinese duo of Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui.

The 21-year-old Yuqi, who had beaten Prannoy at the Indonesian Masters 2015, opened a slender 11-9 lead at the break of the opening game. The Indian then surged to a 18-13 advantage only to let the Chinese claw his way back to pocket the first game.

In the second game, Yuqi was more dominant as he broke off at 7-7 to distance himself from the Indian and eventually seal his place in the semifinals without much ado.