BANGALORE, OCT 11: Indian National champion Pullela Gopi Chand went down fighting in three games to China's Xia Xuanze in the final of the 2-star Yonex German Open Championships in Duiburg, yesterday.Xuanze, the Dutch Open champion and ranked 29th in the world, pipped the 50th-ranked Gopi, 15-3, 13-15, 15-4 dousing the Indian's hopes of becoming the first from his country to win a Grand Prix event after Prakash Padukone.The Chinese had also also beaten Gopi in this year's All England Championships.The Indian was too tentataive in the first game and waited for the Chinese to take the initiative. Xuanze won the first game at 15-3 and raced to a 8-0 lead in the second. Gopi then started moving his opponent around to level scores at 12. The tiring Chinese lost the second.Gopi committed too many unforced errors in the decider, allowing the opponent to take his second title in two weeks.For Gopi, this was a fruitful tournament as he won the Fairplay Award. This was his best showing after finishing runner-up at the Indian Open Grand Prix held in New Delhi in February 1997, according to a press release from the Badminton Association of India.The Indian contingent moves to Vejle in Denmark for the Danish Open, which is a 4-star Grand Prix tournament carrying a prize money of US $120,000.
