Saarbrucken (Germany: Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth's campiagn at the HYLO Open Super 500 ended in the semifinals here on Saturday.
Former champion Lakshya went down to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 18-21, 12-21, while Srikanth was edged out by Malaysian Lee Zii Jia 21-19, 22-20.
Lakshya, ranked world No. 21, matched his opponent in the fast-paced rallies but he lacked finishing as he went down to 39th ranked Loh in 45 minutes.
It was his second loss to Loh in three meetings this year.
Lakshya had avenged his Dutch Open final loss to Loh with a straight game win at the French Open last month.
In the semifinal clash, Loh showed better discipline and precision to return the favour to the Indian.
The duo played some terrific rallies with Lakshya grabbing six straight points to lead 8-4 at one stage.
A few unforced errors by Lakshya, which included a long shot and a net error, helped Loh to break the run of points and he soon made it 10-9 after injecting pace in the rallies.
However, Lakshya ensured he had a slender one-point advantage at the interval.
Following the breather, Loh managed to turn the tables at 13-12. Lakshya wrested back the lead at 17-15 with four quick points.
However, Loh made his way to 20-18 and fist pumped after sending one away from his opponent's reach.
Gruelling rallies featured in the second game also but the Singaporean continued the momentum, opening up a 2-0 lead and even though Lakshya breathed down his his neck, Loh managed to enter the interval with a three-point cushion.
Loh continued to hold fort after the interval and slowly distanced himself from the Indian, displaying immaculate defence.
In the end, a return going to net from Lakshya and then a smash helped Loh to reach match points and he sealed it with another stiff cross court smash.
