Sourabh, Datt lose in Indian Open

New Delhi: It was curtains for India in the Indian Open Super Series after young shuttlers Sourabh Verma and RMV Gurusai Datt suffered straight-game defeats in the quarterfinals of the men's singles at the Siri Fort Complex here on Friday.

Giant killer Sourabh, who had beaten Athen Olympics bronze medallist Sony Kuncoro of Indonesia and seventh seed Kenichi Tago of Japan on his way to the quarterfinals, suffered a 7-21 8-21 defeat against World number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

While, Datt went down fighting to world number 20 Hu Yun of Hong Kong 10-21 16-21 in a 35-minute match. Datt had beaten

fourth seed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and Yuhan Tan of Belgium in the first two rounds here.

It was always going to be a David versus Goliath battle and hopes started to fade the moment Sourabh and Lee took the court as the top seed Malaysian toyed with the junior player, playing the first Super Series of his career.

Sourabh's challenge lasted for the initial six points as after that Lee just toyed with his opponent and raced away with the first game. The Beijing Olympics silver medallist was more ruthless in the second as he tired out Sourabh by making him run all across the court, playing an array of strokes to pocket the game comfortably.

"I am disappointed as I couldn't play to my potential. I know I can play better. I couldn't adjust to the court and pace of the game. He had a lot of variations and he was using the drops and smashes very well. A lot of my smashes were going out. I need to work harder," Sourabh said.

However, the Madhya Pradesh lad said he has taken a lot of confidence from the tournament.

"It has given me a lot of confidence. The guys who are outside the top 10 bracket, they are beatable but for the top 10 players, I have to put on a lot of hard work. Gopi sir has told me I have to play more international tournament.

"From here I go back to Hyderabad and then sir will decide what are the tournaments which I can win and according I will play," he added.

However, Lee had some words of encouragement for Sourabh and said with a little bit of experience, he can be a good player in future.

"He is a strong player. He is a junior and he has beaten some top players here. He will learn with experience and will do well in future," he said.