Gupta, Popat out of German Open

The Indian challenge in the German Open badminton tournament at Duisberg, Germany came to an end on Friday when Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Aparna Popat lost their respective matches.

Gupta, seeded 16th, went down to eighth seed Shoji Sato of Japan 11-15, 0-15 in the third round, while Popat lost to fourth seed Huawien Xu of France 1-11, 4-11 in the second round.

The other Indians in the fray -- Nikhil Kanetkar and Arvind Bhat -- bowed out in the first and second rounds respectively.