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Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha's run at the ongoing Thailand Masters badminton tournament ended with a crushing loss in the women's singles semifinals on Saturday in Bangkok.
The 61st-ranked women's shuttler faced a 21-13, 21-12 loss to the local star Supanida Katethong, the world number 17 shuttler within 35 minutes, ending India's campaign at the event within just two games, as per Olympics.com. Chaliha had earlier beaten world number 44 Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo of Indonesia and Chinese Taipei's world number 30 Pai Yu Po in two massive upsets to secure her spot in a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 tournament for the first time ever. But in the semis, she failed to cope with Supanida early on, trailing 11-5 in the first game and the deficit only kept increasing till it was 19-8. From here, the Indian managed to win five successive points but Thailand's 2023 US Open-winning shuttler secured the first game. Supanida started the second game with the same energy, but Ashmita fought back really well, trailing by 10-7 at the break. The Indian was alive in the game until her opponent took six successive points to swing the fate in her favour. Supanida managed to win the second game as well. In the men's singles quarters, India's world number 63 shuttler Mithun Manjunath was knocked out while experienced doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also registered a loss in the quarters. The tournament offered crucial ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The ranking period for badminton, which kick-started on May 1, 2023, will end on April 28 this year. (ANI)
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