Nikhil Kanektar went down fighting to second seed Anders Boesen of Denmark in the pre-quarter-finals at the Dutch Open Badminton tournament at Den Bosch, The Netherlands.
The 24-year-old southpaw, who had raised Indian hopes by making it to the last 16, maintained his aggressive style of play but failed against the experience and agility of the Dane as he lost in straight games 12-15, 10-15 on Thursday.
Kanetkar, ranked 76th in the world, had defeated Jim Ronny Andersen of Norway 15-9, 8-15, 15-2 to move into the last 16.
In the first round, Kanetkar thrashed qualifier Arnd Vetters of Germany 15-5, 15-0.
The only other Indian in the fray, Arvind Bhat went out in the first round, losing to 10th seed Juergen Koch of Austria 7-15, 15-2, 9-15.
