India’s Ashmita Chaliha showcased brilliant resilience to book her spot in the women’s singles final of the Korea Masters Super 300, beating compatriot Rakshmitha Ramraj in the semifinal played at the Asan Yi Sun-sin Gymnasium in Asan, Korea, on Saturday.
In a thrilling all-Indian semifinal, Ashmita overcame compatriot Rakshitha 21-13, 16-21, 21-13.
After dropping a tight second game, Chaliha bounced back aggressively to dictate the decider, continuing the Indian contingent’s stellar run at the tournament. She will now battle China’s Han Qianxi for the title in the summit clash.
The experienced Ashmita had on Friday packed off top seed Hina Akechi of Japan 20-22, 21-15, 21-19. In the other quarterfinal match, Rakshitha got the better of Chinese Taipei Open champion Tanvi Sharma 18-21, 21-19, 21-18 in another gruelling quarterfinal clash.
Ashmita, the 26-year-old from Guwahati, Assam, and Rakshitha, who both ended up playing for over an hour in the quarterfinals, were the only Indian players still in the fray at the end of the quarterfinals. Ashmita will now face the winner of the clash between fourth seed Han Qian Xi of China and the unseeded Kim Ga Ram of South Korea.
The men’s doubles combination of Pruthvi K Roy and Krishna Prasad G went down 21-7, 21-8 against Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Soh Wooi Yik in the quarterfinals.
The BWF World Tour Super 300 Series event, which ends on Sunday, has a total prize fund of USD 250,000. The tournament was founded in 2007 and was held as an International Challenge-level tournament, the fourth level of international badminton tournaments, till 2010 before being converted into a BWF Grand Prix Gold event in 2011.
The Grand Prix Gold event ceased in 2017, and the Korea Masters became a part of the BWF World Tour Super 300.
