Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha's run ends in Thailand Masters semifinals

Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha's performance at the ongoing Thailand Masters badminton tournament concluded with a defeat in the women's singles semifinals on Saturday in Bangkok. Ranked 61st, Chaliha experienced a 21-13, 21-12 loss to Thailand's Supanida Katethong, the world's 17th ranked shuttler.

This ended India's journey at the event after two games, according to Olympics.com. Chaliha had previously triumphed over world number 44 Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo of Indonesia and world number 30 Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei, marking her first ever participation in a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 tournament.

However, she struggled against Supanida in the semifinals, trailing 11-5 in the first game, a gap which only widened to 19-8. Despite a comeback with five successive points, Supanida, the 2023 US Open winner, took the first game.

The second game saw a spirited fight from Ashmita but Supanida's six successive points shifted the balance in her favour, leading her to win the second game as well.

Meanwhile, in the men's singles quarterfinals, India's world number 63 shuttler Mithun Manjunath was eliminated, and the seasoned doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also suffered a defeat.

Also read: Assam: Security beefed up around Khanapara ahead of PM Modi's mega public rally