Young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda advanced to the semifinals of the men’s and women’s singles divisions on Friday at the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament after defeating their respective opponents in difficult three-game matches.
In the quarterfinals of the men’s singles tournament, Ayush Shetty defeated seventh-seeded Brian Yang of Canada 16-21, 21-19, 21-14. The duration of the contest was one hour and eleven minutes.
After defeating third-seeded Lee Chia-hao of Chinese Taipei in his opening match, the 20-year-old Indian badminton player advanced to the round of 16 and overcame former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth.
Ayush Shetty, ranked 44th in the world, will be making his second appearance in the semi-finals this year. He had previously advanced to the Orleans Masters Super 300 semifinals in March, when he had famously defeated former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the round of 32.
The top-seeded Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei, who defeated Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia in his top eight match, will face Ayush Shetty in the semi-finals.
Tharun Mannepalli of India was defeated by Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah on Thursday in the second round.
Meanwhile, Hung Yi-Ting, the world No. 65 in badminton from China Taipei, defeated Unnati Hooda, ranked 53rd in the women’s singles badminton rankings, in her quarterfinal match.
The rising Indian will next face the victor of the other quarterfinal match between top seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and Moh Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia. In the first round, the Indian had shocked All England Championships runner-up Lee Chia Hao.
