National champion Arvind Bhat fought gallantly but eventually ran out of steam and lost a gruelling quarter-final against Choong Hann Wong at the Macau Open Grand Prix gold badminton tournament in China on Friday.
Bhat, seeded 10th, came from behind to pocket the second game but ran out of steam and went down 19-21, 21-18, 6-21 to the fourth seed Malaysian in 52 minutes.
Choong grabbed 29 smash points and 17 net winners compared to Bhat's 16 and eight respectively.
The Malaysian opened a six-point lead at 6-0, and even though Bhat came back to lead at 7-6, Choong held his nerve at crucial moments and marched ahead with four straight points to eventually seal the game.
The Indian bounced back in the second game and after being 18-18, raced away with three crucial points to level the match score.
In the decider, however, the world No 13 Malaysian proved too good.
