Nikhil Kanetkar and Trupti Murgunde ran out of steam in the New Zealand Open badminton tournament in Auckland at the quarter-final stage, but not before giving their opponents a scare.
Kanetkar played his heart out and took world No 23 Andrew Smith of England to three games before going down 21-18, 19-21, 21-16 in 50 minutes.
The Indian, who had reached the semi-finals of the Victorian Open in Melbourne last week, gave his all but could not register the upset he was aiming for.
Kanetkar, ranked 152nd in the world, beat Kiwi Ethan Haggo and Erwin Djohan of Singapore before defeating world No 40 Geoff Bellingham to reach the last eight.
In the women's singles, eighth seed Trupti Murgunde was shown the door by Japan's Yoshimi Hataya. She lost 21-17, 12-21, 16-21.
Trupti, ranked 76 in world, who also made it to the quarter-finals in Melbourne, got a bye in the first round before defeating local challengers Emma Chapple and Melissa Levaina en route to the last eight.
