Indian shuttler Sathish Kumar Karunakaran fought hard before going down in three games to Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the second round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday. (More Sports News)
The 23-year-old Indian squandered an opening game advantage to go down 21-18 18-21 8-21 against the world number 40 Thai in a match that lasted 70 minutes.
It was thus curtains for India in the tournament.
Sathish had reached the second round after world number 3 Anders Antonsen retired after leading 6-1 in the opening game at the Yokohama Arena on Wednesday.
Sathish had won his maiden BWF tournament in 2023, claiming the Odisha Masters Super 100.
