Taipei Open 2025: Day of delights for India as youngsters Unnati, Ayush storm into semis

Taipei, May 9 (IANS) Teenager Unnati Hooda and 20-year-old Ayush Shetty capped a day of delights for India at the BWF Taipei Open 2025 by booking their spots in the semifinals of the BWF World Tour Super 300 event here on Friday.

Unnati defeated local shuttler Hung Yi-Ting 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 in 52 minutes, securing her berth opposite top-seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan in the penultimate round.

Ayush, meanwhile, came roaring back from a game down to beat seventh seed Brian Yang, marking his second upset in the tournament after his earlier win over third seed Lee Chia Hao. Shetty won their men's singles quarterfinals clash 21-8, 19-21, 21-19.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Ayush had defeated compatriot and former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in three hard-fought games, winning 21-16, 15-21, 21-17 in a 61-minute encounter.

Ranked 44 in BWF Rankings, Ayush will play the winner of the tie between top seed Chou Tien Chen and Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah in the next round.

Earlier on Thursday, India's Tharun Mannepalli went down against Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia in a Round of 16 clash in men's singles. Tharun lost 21-13, 21-9 to the Indonesian player in the event being played at the Taipei Arena.

India had sent a large contingent to participate in the Taipei Open 2025 but most of them fell by the wayside in the inital rounds, leaving only Unnati and Ayus to carry the flag in the final rounds.

Results:

Women’s Singles

Unnati Hooda (IND) def. Hung Yi-Ting (TPE) 21-8, 19-21, 21-19

Men’s Singles

Ayush Shetty (IND) def. Brian Yang (CAN) [7] 16-21, 21-19, 21-14.

--IANS

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