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India's Devika Sihag scripted history as she became the women's singles champion of the Thailand Masters 2026 badminton event on Sunday, according to Olympics.com.
The rising star won her maiden BWF World Tour title after Malaysia's World No. 68 Goh Jin Wei was forced to retire injured while trailing 21-8, 6-3 in the final. This was Devika Sihag's maiden BWF World Tour title as well as the first by an Indian this year. Devika, ranked 63rd, is also a three-time winner on the BWF International Circuit. The 20-year-old had also previously finished runner-up at the second Indonesia Masters last year, but the BWF Super 100 tournament falls outside the World Tour ambit despite offering ranking points. The Indian shuttler stormed into the final after she stunned Chinese Taipei's Huang Yu Hsun in straight sets in the one-sided semifinals on Saturday. The Indian shuttler won the hard-fought set 22-20, according to ESPN. Devika started the second set on a dominating note, racing to an 11-5 lead at the break. Devika then extended the lead to eight points by showcasing a brilliant play at the net. The Chinese Taipei shuttler tried to fight back, reeling off three points to close the gap to 17-12, but the Indian shuttler was unstoppable, and won the second set by 20-13, winning the one-sided contest. Earlier, Devika pulled off an absolute stunner, upsetting the home favourite and top seed Supanida Katethong to make it to the semifinals of the ongoing Thailand Masters on Friday. Sihag pulled off a brilliant, well-fought win over the world number 16, Supanida, by 21-19, 21-18. Also, Isharani Baruah was defeated in the women's singles competition by Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching 18-21, 21-16, 21-13 despite winning the first game. After a well-fought first game win, she failed to maintain the momentum in the next two games. Isharani had eliminated the second-seeded women's singles player, Chinese Taipei's Sung Shuo Yun, in the second round on Thursday. (ANI)
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