The rising shuttles Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda put an end to their impressive races with semi-finals in male and female singles respectively, bringing curtains back to the countryside of India to 240,000 USD BWF Taipei Open Super 300 in Taipei on Saturday. Ayush, 20, bronze medalist at the 2023 junior world championships, fought hard before descending 18-21, 17-21 to the local favorite and at number 7 of the world cabbage Tien Chen, a veteran of almost two decades on the international circuit.
Earlier, Unnati, the 2022 Odisha Masters and the winner of the masters of Abu Dhabi in 2023, showed an early promise but could not support the momentum, losing 19-21, 11-21 in 43 minutes for seeded and number 8 of the world Tomoka Miyazaki from Japan, the 2022 junior world champion.
Armed with a powerful Smash and a solid net, Ayush had beaten the best names, notably the finalist of England Lee Chia Hao, former world n ° 1 Kidambi Srikanth and Brian Yang in Canada in the previous towers.
He started strongly against Chou, attacking the forecourt and using net angles to build an advance of 8-4. But a few unlouring errors allowed Chou to fill the gap at 10-9 before taking a close advance at the break.
From 11-11, the two players were corresponding for the point. Ayush continued to push with his forehand crash and his attacking game, but the Chou’s experience has shown.
At 18-18, the local star produced a bodily smash and followed it with a bright setback to take the opening match.
The intensity remained high in the second match. Ayush has remained aggressive, mixing his features well to keep cable guess and led 11-10 at the interval.
However, Chou quickly turned the tables, winning a net duel and a parallel exchange to increase by 13-11. Ayush retaliated at 14-13, but a few long shots injured his rhythm.
Chou maintained the pressure with inclined yields, pushing Ayush to the corners and winning four match points at 20-16. The Indian saved one but finally sent a backhand in the net to concede the match.
HOODA VS Miyazaki
Hooda started sharply, showing good control in the front ground and using his smashs well to take off Miyazaki, opening an advance of 7-3.
A bodily smash, a quick return and a deceptive block gave it an advantage of 11-6 at the break.
After the end change, the errors were transformed into Hooda’s game. Miyazaki reduced the gap to 10-12 and finally leveled at 18 when Hooda allowed a return.
The Japanese caught a game point while Hooda was going widely and the sealed with a perfectly placed right Smash.
Miyazaki ran a 4-0 lead in the second game when Hooda looked shaken. By dragging 2-8, the Indian missed key opportunities, including a point where his opponent was on the ground.
The inconsistency of Hooda continued, while Miyazaki remained lively, capitalizing on a lucky net agreement and by establishing an advance of 15-6 before closing the match with ease.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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