Kidambi Srikanth's hopes of ending a long title drought came crashing after going down in straight games to former world champion Viktor Axelsen in the men's singles final of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open, here Sunday.
Srikanth, a 2015 winner, blew away two game points in the second game to lose 7-21 20-22 to Axelsen in the summit clash.
It was the Indian's first final in a BWF world tour event in 17 months. He last won a title at the 2017 French Open.
"I haven't played anything differently and so I lost. I should have tried something different," Srikanth said after the loss.
"I think I gave him too many chances to attack in the first game and tried to avoid it in the second and it was okay till the 20th point. If I could have taken it to the decider, I could have had my chances.
"I was slow to start with. I was able to control my lifts and defend well but in the end he was a little brave."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content