Ashmita Chaliha beats Rakshitha Ramraj to reach first BWF World Tour final at Korea Masters
Ashmita Chaliha defeated compatriot Rakshitha Ramraj 21-13, 16-21, 21-13 to advance to her maiden BWF World Tour singles final at the Korea Masters Super 300 in Asan, South Korea on Saturday. The 26-year-old completed the win in 48 minutes to set up a title match in the tournament.
Chaliha, who returned to competition in May after a three-month layoff with a medial meniscus tear in her right knee, is world ranked 50 and trains under Park Tae-sang at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati. She re-established form on tour this season with a semifinal showing at the Macau Open. Her opponent in the final will be China’s Han Qianxi, who is world ranked 35, seeded fourth and reached the Korea Masters final after a 22-20, 18-21, 21-14 victory in a one-hour five-minute semifinal.
Chaliha’s run continued a strong spell for Indian players on the BWF World Tour: Tanvi Sharma won the Taipei Open last Sunday, and other Indians have reached finals this season, including Ayush Shetty at the Asia Championships, Lakshya Sen at the All England, Devika Sihag at the Thailand Masters, Kidambi Srikanth at the US Open, PV Sindhu at the Japan Open, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy with Chirag Shetty at the Singapore Open.
In the first game Chaliha opened aggressively, moving from 2-2 to 6-2 before producing a five-point run to lead 13-6 and closing out the frame 21-13. Chaliha had earlier upset top seed and world No. 22 Hina Akechi in the quarterfinals, while Rakshitha reached the semis after coming from a game down to beat third seed and compatriot Tanvi Sharma in the quarters.
Rakshitha responded strongly in the second game, racing to a 4-1 lead as Chaliha struggled with lifts and found the net, falling 3-8 behind. A lift going long handed Rakshitha a five-point advantage and, despite Chaliha mounting a recovery to 12-13, Rakshitha maintained the edge to close the game 21-16 after converting one of four game points.
Chaliha dominated the decider early, moving to a 9-1 lead with three smashes and taking an 11-3 advantage at the interval as Rakshitha committed a string of unforced errors. A change of ends saw Rakshitha reduce the deficit to 7-12, but Chaliha regained control to lead 15-7 and then 18-9 as Rakshitha’s errors continued.
A smash gave Chaliha nine match points; she missed two before Rakshitha sent one shot wide, handing Chaliha the victory and a spot in her first BWF World Tour final. Chaliha will now face Han Qianxi in the summit clash for the Korea Masters title.