Copenhagen, Oct 16 (IANS): Kidambi Srikanth on Friday was knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the men's singles category of the Denmark Open badminton, thus ending the Indian challenge in Aarhus.

In an engrossing match that lasted 62 minutes, Srikanth lost to second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 22-20, 13-21, 16-21.

Chou had the upper hand in the first game with a 6-2 lead but the former world No.1 came back to level things at 10-10. Srikanth was in control for most of the first game after that, although he had to stave off a late comeback from Chou to take the game 22-20.

The Chinese Taipei player, however, built on the momentum and held the clear upper hand for most of the second game. The third game saw Chou race to a 19-11 lead after the interval but Srikanth caused a scare with a fight back by taking the next four points on the trot. Chou, however, kept his calm to finally take the game 21-16.

Chou will face either Jan O Jorgensen or Anders Antonsen who face off in an all-Danish quarter-final later in the day.