Bangkok, Feb 3, India's campaign at the Thailand Masters 2023 badminton tournament on Friday came to an end after B Sai Praneeth lost to Youth Olympic Games champion Li Shi Feng of China in the mens singles quarter-finals, here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 30-year-old Indian made a decent start to the match but lost his momentum to lose 17-21, 23-21, 18-21 in one hour and 23 minutes. Apart from Praneeth, no other Indian badminton player had reached the quarter-finals of the BWF Super 300 tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
World No 49 Praneeth, who has not been in the semi-finals of a BWF World Tour event since winning the bronze medal at the BWF world championships in 2019, led Li Shi Feng 15-10 in the first game. But, he lost 11 of the next 13 points to trail 1-0 in the match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Li Shi Feng, seeded sixth and world No. 23, led Praneeth by two points at the second break. The Chinese shuttler then pressed his advantage to take a 19-15 lead over the Indian badminton player.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Praneeth, a former world No. 10, however, upped his game and stunned Li Shi Feng to take the match into the decider.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Both Praneeth and Feng engaged in close rallies in the third game. With scores tied at 12-12, Li Shi Feng shifted gears to take the next six points and eventually won the contest to move into the semi-finals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The two shuttlers had earlier met at Malaysia Masters last year with Li Shi Feng winning in straight games.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Both Praneeth and Feng engaged in close rallies in the third game. With scores tied at 12-12, Li Shi Feng shifted gears to take the next six points and eventually won the contest to move into the semi-finals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n