Ayush stuns Srikanth, Unnati also advances to Taipei Open quarters

Young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda continued their impressive run at the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals of the men's and women's singles events respectively here on Thursday. Ayush, 20, a 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist, overcame senior pro Kidambi Srikanth 21-16 15-21 21-17 in a hard-fought second-round clash.

Srikanth, a former world No. 1 and silver medallist at the 2021 World Championships, is currently ranked 82nd in the world. The rising Indian, who had stunned All England Championships runner-up Lee Chia Hao in the previous round, showed maturity beyond his years to close out the contest. He will next face Canada's seventh seed Brian Yang in the last-eight stage.

Earlier, Unnati, the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters champion, made short work of Chinese Taipei's Lin Sih Yun, winning 21-12 21-7 in just 27 minutes. The 17-year-old Indian will take on local shuttler Hung Yi-Ting in the quarterfinals. However, it was the end of the road for 2023 National Games gold medallist Tharun Mannepalli, who went down 13-21 9-21 to Indonesia's Moh Zaki Ubaidillah in the second round.

Against Srikanth, Ayush held his nerves in a tense opening game, pulling away from 14-15 down with six straight points to take the lead. Srikanth responded with a determined effort in the second game, moving ahead 11-7 at the interval and maintaining the pressure to force a decider.

In the final game, Ayush raced to a 7-3 lead, but Srikanth fought back to level at 13-all and 14-all. The youngster, however, showed composure in the closing stages to seal the match and underline his growing stature on the senior circuit. PTI