Indian shuttlers Unnati Hooda and Ayush Shetty are set to compete in the semifinals of the Taipei Open on Saturday, both looking to secure their first Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour title.
Ayush Shetty, who is competing in the men’s singles event, defeated seventh-seeded Brian Yang of Canada 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 in a thrilling quarter-final match that lasted one hour and 11 minutes. Earlier in the tournament, the 20-year-old made an impressive comeback to beat former world number one Kidambi Srikanth in the round of 16 and also triumphed over third-seeded Lee Chia-hao of Chinese Taipei. This marks Ayush’s second semifinal appearance of the year, after reaching the final four at the Orleans Masters Super 300 in March. In the semifinals, Ayush will face top-seeded Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei, who advanced after defeating Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Unnati Hooda, ranked 53rd in women’s singles, secured a hard-fought 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 victory over Chinese Taipei’s world No. 65 Hung Yi-Ting in her quarter-final. The match lasted 52 minutes. Unnati will now face top-seeded Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan in the semifinals. Earlier, she defeated Chinese Taipei’s world No. 99 Lin Sih-Yun 21-12, 21-7 in the round of 16.
Both players will be aiming for a breakthrough performance as they aim for their first-ever BWF Tour titles.
