Badminton, Thailand Masters: Ashmita Chaliha enters first Super 300 semis; Treesa/Gayatri exit

Ashmita Chaliha reached a new milestone as the Indian shuttler entered her first BWF Super 300 semi-final at the 2024 Thailand Masters on Friday.

The 25-year-old, who beat Indonesia’s Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo 21-14, 19-21, 21-13 in just under an hour, is the only Indian left in the tournament.

Earlier in the day, Mithun Manjunath crashed out after a straight-game loss to Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in men’s singles. Sixth seeds Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand saved two match points, but weren’t able to close out their quarter-final as well, losing 12-21, 21-17, 21-23 to the Indonesian pair of Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi.

Wardoyo began the first game in a strong fashion, racing to a 5-1 lead before Chaliha levelled things up at 8-all. With only 17 places separating the two in the rankings, the Indonesian then opened up a gap of four points only for Chaliha to close her down again. Then, trailing 10-14, the Indian went on an incredible 11-point winning streak complete with smashes and clever plays to take the first game in an astonishing manner.

The second game was more cagey as both players became familiar with the other’s style. There was no clear lead established in...

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