Malhotra loses in quarters

India's Vikram Malhotra, seeded fifth, went down fighting to fourth-seeded Mexican Alfredo Avila in the quarterfinals of the Costa Rica Open, a PSA World Tour event, being held at San Jose.

The US-based Indian started well and took the opening game 11-8.

However, Avila kept pace and captured a close second game to draw level.

Growing in confidence, the Mexican grabbed the initiative to post a 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-6 win late on Thursday, said a SRFI press release here.

Malhotra had won their only previous meeting in Houston last year.