Taipei Open: Ayush Shetty, Unnati Hooda lose in semifinal clash

Representational image (Pic: File Pic)

Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hood ended their impressive run with semi-final finishes in the men's and women's singles, respectively, at the BWF Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament.

Ayush, a bronze medallist at the World Junior Championships 2023, kept fighting hard against the World No. Chou Tien Chen. But Ayush fell short as he lost the match by 18-21, 17-21 against a veteran of two decades in the international circuit.

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With immense skills, Ayush had earlier defeated top players such as Lee Chia Hao, Kidambi Srikanth and Brian Yang. Initially, the 20-year-old dominated the game against Chou by showcasing an aggressive approach to register a lead by 8-4. But later, a few mistakes from Ayush helped Chou take the lead and close the gap by 10-9.

From 11-11, both players matched each other point for point. Ayush continued to push with his forehand smashes and attacking play, but Chou's experience showed.

Later, when the game was set at 18-19, Chou produced a body smash, followed by a backhand shot to seal the first game against the Indian.

In the start of the second game, Ayush continued his aggressive approach to secure a lead of 13-11 at the interval.. Later, the youngster kept fighting back to 14-13, but a couple of long shots hurt his rhythm.

Chou kept up the pressure with angled returns, pushing Ayush to the corners and earning four match points at 20-16. The Indian saved one but eventually sent a backhand into the net to concede the match.

Earlier, Unnati Hooda, the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters winner, showed early promise but couldn't sustain the momentum, losing 19-21, 11-21 in 43 minutes to top seed and world No. 8 Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan, the 2022 World Junior Champion.

(With PTI Inputs)