Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma enter semifinals in Taipei Open

India’s Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma won their respective women’s singles matches to enter the semifinals of the Taipei Open badminton tournament on Friday.

Kiran George, however, lost his men’s singles quarterfinal match against Japan’s fourth-seeded Yudai Okimoto 21-12 21-10 in 33 minutes.  Hooda clinched a straight-game 23-21 21-16 victory over compatriot Devika Sihag to reach the last-four stage, while Tanvi got the better of Thailand’s Supanida Katethong 21-15 18-21 21-14 in a gruelling 54-minute quarterfinal clash.

Earlier in the day, the all-Indian quarterfinal contest between Hooda and Sihag started with a fiercely contested first game, where the former held her nerve to win it 23-21. Hooda was off to a great start, racing to an 11-3 lead before Sihag staged a spirited comeback to level the scores at 21-21. However, Hooda held her composure in the closing stages, winning the next two points to clinch the opening game.

In the second game, the third-seeded Hooda maintained her momentum and capitalised on her leads to wrap up the match 21-16 against eighth seed Sihag in 42 minutes.

The 18-year-old Hooda will next face the winner of the quarterfinal between Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-chian and Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh.