Anup Sridhar's great run at the Yonex German Open badminton came to an end as he went down to top seed Lin Dan of China in the semi-finals at Bottrop.
The Indian shuttler was outclassed 21-14, 21-12 in 27 minutes.
Lin will take on second-seeded compatriot Yu Chen, who benefited as another Chinese Yun Yong Wu withdrew while trailing 21-18, 5-2.
With Sridhar's defeat, the Indian challenge at the elite event also came to an end.
Sridhar came second best in almost all areas of the game against his illustrious opponent, winning only 26 of the 68 rallies in the match.
He found it difficult to deal with the Chinese player's smashes and superior net game. The Chinese stalwart had 15 smash winners compared to six for Sridhar. Lin had seven net winners against five from the Indian.
The unseeded Sridhar had earlier managed several high profile scalps in the tournament, including fifth seed Bjoern Joppien of Germany, Kaspar Oedium of Denmark and Korea's Sung Hwan Park.
© Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|