India's national squash champion Ritwik Bhattacharya went down fighting to Canada's [Images] Shawn De Lierre 10-12, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 7-11 in the quarter-final of the Atlanta Open.

Looking to follow up on his superb performance in the Liverpool Open last week, Bhattacharya came up just short in a marathon encounter. In a fast paced match, he lost the first two games in close finishes before taking control by winning the third and fourth to force the decider.

But the semi final spot eluded the Indian as he lost 7-11 in the fifth in a match that lasted 116 minutes.

The next tournament scheduled for Bhattacharya is the PSA event in Chennai in June.