Sai Praneeth loses in the quarterfinal of the Canada Open

Sai Praneeth bowed out of the Canada Open

Despite putting in a valiant effort, India’s Sai Praneeth bowed out of the 2015 Canada Open, after losing in three games to former World No.1 Lee Chong Wei 21-13 18-21 21-11 in the quarterfinal stage of the competition on Friday.

Game 1 saw the Malaysian, completely dominate proceedings, racing away to an early 4-1 lead and then holding on to that advantage throughout to eventually seal it 21-13.

With his backs clearly against the wall, Sai knew he had to forge a strong comeback and although the second game didn't start as well as he would’ve liked to, but the Indian began to peg Lee back, after being 4-1 dow, to constantly reduce the margin and keep the match alive.

The decisive turn arrived when the India, at the 12-16 mark, won 6 points on the trot to go 18-16 up to peg his opponent back significantly. Following that surge in points, Sai managed to hold his nerve and clinched 3 out of the next 5 points to win the game 21-18 and take the match to a decider.

Hoping to carry forward the momentum gained by him,Sai entered into the decider, but that glimmer of a dream vanished quickly as Lee won an incredible 10 points on the trot to go from 3-2 up to 13-2 up and completely take charge of the match.

Following that massive succession of points, it was an uphill battle for the Indian to make any kind of comeback and he eventually lost the game and the match to bow out of the tournament.

This was his second consecutive loss to the same opponent in two separate tournaments.

Final Scoreline-Lee Chong Wei(MAL) beat Sai Praneeth(IND) 21-13 18-21 21-11