Ashmita Chaliha reaches maiden BWF World Tour singles final
News sports badminton Ashmita Chaliha reaches maiden BWF World Tour singles final Ashmita Chaliha reaches maiden BWF World Tour singles final Published By, Last Updated
News sports badminton Ashmita Chaliha reaches maiden BWF World Tour singles final Ashmita Chaliha reaches maiden BWF World Tour singles final Published By, Last Updated: August 08, 2026, 14:30 IST Ashmita Chaliha reached her maiden BWF World Tour singles final at the Korea Masters Super 300, beating Rakshitha Ramraj 21-13, 16-21, 21-13. Ashmita Chaliha will now face Han Qianxi. (PTI Photo) Ashmita Chaliha is one win away from clinching her maiden BWF World Tour singles title after the Indian shuttler defeated compatriot Rakshitha Ramraj 21-13, 16-21, 21-13 to enter the Korea Masters Super 300 final on Saturday. The 26-year-old, who returned to competition in May following a three-month absence caused by a medial meniscus tear in her right knee, has put together an impressive comeback. Her run in Korea follows a semifinal appearance at the Macau Open. World No. 50 Ashmita, who trains under Park Tae-sang at the center of excellence, Guwahati, will face China’s Han Qianxi in the title clash. Qianxi, ranked 35th in the world and seeded fourth, reached the final after a 22-20, 18-21, 21-14 victory in the other semifinal, which lasted one hour and five minutes.
Ashmita’s breakthrough comes a week after Tanvi Sharma won the Taipei Open, giving India successive BWF World Tour singles finalists. Indian shuttlers have now reached finals at several major events this season. Ayush Shetty made the title clash at the Asia Championships, Lakshya Sen at the All England, Devika Sihag at the Thailand Masters, Kidambi Srikanth at the US Open, Tanvi at the Taipei Open, PV Sindhu at the Japan Open, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at the Singapore Open, and now Ashmita at the Korea Masters. Ashmita, who had stunned Japan’s top seed and world No. 22 Hina Akechi in the quarterfinals, made a fast start against Rakshitha, moving from 2-2 to 6-2 before taking control of the opening game. The Assamese shuttler then strung together five consecutive points to open up a 13-6 advantage and went on to take the game 21-13. Rakshitha, who had eliminated third seed and compatriot Tanvi Sharma in the quarterfinals after recovering from a game down, responded in the second. The 19-year-old Pullela Gopichand Academy trainee raced into a 4-1 lead as Ashmita struggled with her lifts. Two shots went long and another found the net, allowing Rakshitha to move 8-3 ahead.
A further long lift extended Rakshitha’s advantage to five points. Ashmita finally produced a telling response at 6-12, unleashing a brutal smash from the left side. She followed it with another straight smash, while a return of serve into the net and a long lift from Rakshitha helped her cut the deficit to 12-13. But Rakshitha stayed in front, using her pace to hurry Ashmita and move 17-13 ahead. At 18-14, she won another tight exchange with a cross-court smash. Ashmita answered with a jumping cross-court winner, but Rakshitha punished a weak lift to earn four game points and converted the first to force a decider. Ashmita immediately regained control in the third game. Playing from her preferred winning side again, she raced to a 9-1 lead with three smashes, while Rakshitha contributed several unforced errors. Another mistake at the net helped Ashmita take an 11-3 advantage at the final interval. The change of ends once again shifted the momentum. Rakshitha began controlling the rallies as Ashmita’s errors increased, with the Hyderabad-based player reducing the gap to 7-12. Ashmita steadied herself and restored her advantage at 15-7.
The BriefWire