Unnati, Ayush move into semifinals of Taipei Open

TAIPEI: Young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda continued to impress at the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament, beating their respective rivals in tough three-game contests to progress to semifinals of men’s and women’s singles events here on Friday.

Taking the court first, Unnati, the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters champion, fought hard for 52 minutes to get the better of local shuttler Hung Yi-Ting 21-8 19-21 21-19 in the women’s singles quarterfinals.

Earlier, the 17-year-old Indian, ranked 53rd in the world as against her opponent’s 65th, made short work of another Taipei shuttler Lin Sih Yun 21-12, 21-7 in the round of 16.

She will next face top seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan. The Japanese beat Hsiang Lin of Taipei 17-21, 21-8, 21-17 in another quarterfinal.

The 20-year-old Ayush, a 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist, who overcame senior pro Kidambi Srikanth in a hard-fought second-round clash, stunned Canada’s seventh seed Brian Yang 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 in a contest that lasted for one hour and 11 minutes to move to the last four stage.

The rising Indian, who had stunned All England Championships runner-up Lee Chia Hao in the opening round, will next take on the winner of the other quarterfinal match between top seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and Indonesia’s Moh Zaki Ubaidillah.

Hooda falls short to Miyazaki

Hooda started brightly, showing good control in the front court and using her smashes well to unsettle Miyazaki, opening up a 7-3 lead.

A body smash, a quick net return, and a deceptive block gave her an 11-6 advantage at the break.

After the change of ends, errors crept into Hooda's game. Miyazaki narrowed the gap to 10-12 and eventually levelled at 18-all when Hooda netted a return.

The Japanese grabbed a game point as Hooda went wide and sealed it with a perfectly placed straight smash.

Miyazaki raced to a 4-0 lead in the second game as Hooda looked rattled. Trailing 2-8, the Indian missed key opportunities, including a point when her opponent was on the floor.

Hooda's inconsistency continued, while Miyazaki stayed sharp, capitalising on a lucky net chord and building a 15-6 lead before closing out the match with ease.