NEW DELHI: Nikhil Kanetkar and Trupti Murgunde ran out of steam in the New Zealand Open badminton tournament in Auckland at the quarterfinal stage, but not before giving their opponents a scare.
Kanetkar played his heart out to drag 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 semifinals 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 number 40 Geoff Bellingham to reach the last eight.
In women's singles, eighth seed Trupti Murgunde was shown the door by Japan's Yoshimi Hataya 17-21 21-12 21-16.
Trupti, ranked 76 in world, who also made it to the quarterfinals in Melbourne, got a bye in the first round here before defeating local challengers Emma Chapple and Melissa Levaina to make it to the last eight.
