KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Malaysia's challenge in the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament ended after the only pair left standing, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, lost in the semifinals match yesterday.

The sixth-seeded pair won the opening set before going down in the remaining sets, losing 23-21, 17-21 and 10-21 to fourth seeds, Tsai Chia Hsin/Lee Sheng Mu of Taiwan in the tournament held at the St Jakobshalle Arena in Basel, according to Badminton World Federation (BWF) website www.bwfbadminton.org.

The country's challenge in three other events — men's and women's singles and also the women's doubles event — fizzled out a few days ago after the Malaysians lost to their respective opponents.

Malaysia did not send any representative for the mixed doubles event in the US$120,000 (RM499,716) tournament. — Bernama