Basel, March 14 India's Tharun Mannepalli put up a valiant fight before losing to Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in a thrilling three-game quarterfinal at the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament here.
The world No. 43 Indian lost 19-21, 21-19, 13-21 to Ginting, who is returning from injuries that hampered his 2025 season, including a significant back problem.
The defeat also brought an end to India's campaign at the USD 250,000 tournament.
Ginting opened up a 6-2 lead early, and though Mannepalli clawed back to level at 11-11, the Indonesian pulled away to 16-12 before earning four game points.
Mannepalli saved three of these points before losing the opening game.
In the second game, Mannepalli broke away from 6-6 to surge to 11-7 and then 19-13.
Ginting suddenly came alive, scoring six points to draw level at 19-19, but Mannepalli held his nerve to take the match into the deciding game.
In the third game, Ginting gave Mannepalli little chance as he led from the start and comfortably won the contest.