Ayush Shetty, Unnati Hooda exit Taipei Open

Taipei

India's run at the Taipei Open 2025 came to an end after Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda lost their semi-final matches on Saturday. Both young players impressed but couldn’t advance to the finals of this BWF Super 300 tournament.

Ayush Shetty, ranked 44th in the world, lost to local favourite and top seed Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-17 in a close match. The 20-year-old was ahead 18-17 in the first game before Chou took four straight points to win. In the second game, Shetty stayed level at 16-all before Chou surged ahead again to seal the match in 42 minutes.

Earlier, Ayush had an excellent run, beating third seed Lee Chia-hao, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, and Canada’s seventh seed Brian Yang.

Unnati Hooda, just 17 years old and ranked 53rd, also showed her talent but lost to Japan’s top seed Tomoka Miyazaki. Despite leading 18-15 in the first game, Unnati fell 21-19, 21-11 in 43 minutes. Miyazaki, ranked eighth in the world, took control in the second game to win comfortably.

These two were the only Indian players to reach the semi-finals in Taipei. Their performances highlighted India's promising future in badminton, even though no Indian reached the final this time.

Ayush and Unnati will now prepare for the Thailand Open, a BWF Super 500 event, which begins in Bangkok on Tuesday. Fans will hope for another strong showing as they continue their international journey.