India's lone survivor in the Japan Open going into the matches on Friday, Parupalli Kashyap, lost his quarterfinal clash with Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, who closed the match out in straight sets 21-14, 21-18.
Kashyap, who was expected to put up a better fight against the sixth seed, after his victory over third seed KIdambi Srikanth, could not come up with a repeat performance.
Tien Chen took the first set easily enough and, even if Kashyap put up a strong showing in the second set, the Chinese Taipei player won the big points to send the unseeded Indian packing.
Prior to the match, Kashyap enjoyed a 2-1 head-to-head record over the Chinese Taipei player, which might have given him confidence as well, but Tien Chen looked too strong on the day.
With it, India's run in the ongoing Japan Open has come to an early end.The Japan Open has been one of the most disappointing competitions for India during the season, as none of the Indian shuttlers could reach the semifinals of the competition.
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth were India's biggest hope in the women's and men's singles, but the biggest surprise in the competition was Saina's second round loss to Minatsu Mitani, who defeated the second seed in straight sets.
Another Indian woman shuttler, PV SIndhu was surprisingly ousted by the same Japanese player, Mitani in the first round of the competition.
However, the Indian contingent need to pull up their socks and put up a better performance at the Korean Open, which is scheduled to start on 15 September.
Saina has already pulled out of the Korean Open, along with Jwala Gutta.
