Now Reading: Ashmita, Rakshitha set up all-Indian Korea Masters semifinal
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Ashmita, Rakshitha set up all-Indian Korea Masters semifinal
Indian shuttlers Ashmita Chaliha and Rakshitha Ramraj will face each other in the women's singles semifinals of the Korea Masters after winning their quarterfinal matches on Friday. Ashmita, the more experienced of…
The Story in Brief
Indian shuttlers Ashmita Chaliha and Rakshitha Ramraj will face each other in the women's singles semifinals of the Korea Masters after winning their quarterfinal matches on Friday. Ashmita, the more experienced of the two, stunned top seed Hina Akechi of Japan 20-22, 21-15, 21-19 in a gruelling hour-long contest. Rakshitha overcame compatriot Tanvi Sharma 18-21, 21-19, 21-19, extending her head-to-head lead over Tanvi to 4-0. The winner of the all-Indian clash will meet either Han Qian Xi or Kim Ga Ram in the final.
Other Indian campaigns ended in disappointment. The men's doubles pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Krishna Prasad Garaga lost to Malaysia's Man Wei Chong and Soh Wooi Yik in the quarterfinals. In women's doubles, Sonali Singh and Ritika Thaker bowed out to Japan's Sumire Nakade and Miyu Takahashi. Mixed doubles sixth seeds Ishaan Bhatnagar and Shruti Mishra lost to South Korea's Shin Tae-yang and Kim Yu Jung.
The Indian Opinion
The run of two unheralded Indians at a World Tour event is welcome, but it is too early to read it as a revival of Indian badminton depth. Ashmita and Rakshitha have yet to break into the top 50, and both benefited from favourable draws. The real test will come in the final if one of them faces the tournament favourite. Can either sustain consistency against higher-ranked opponents later this season?
Sources (2): deccanherald.com, assamtribune.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
