Ashmita Chaliha wins Korea Masters after struggling with self-belief

Ashmita Chaliha won the Korea Masters, claiming her maiden BWF World Tour title in South Korea two years after suffering a knee injury there, the 26-year-old said in an interview published on August 19, 2026. She fought back from a game down to beat China’s Han Qianxi in the final.

The victory followed a difficult period in which Ashmita slipped outside the world’s top 200, lost her sponsorship and had to limit herself to tournaments she could afford. She had previously broken into the world’s top 40, and to rebuild her ranking she set a personal target of reaching at least the semifinals at the events she entered. Ashmita moved from training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru back to Guwahati and began working with Coach Park Tae-sang at the National Centre of Excellence, a change she says helped while she felt mentally drained.

Asked whether returning to Korea revived old memories, she replied: "Yes, definitely. When I was going back to Korea, I was like, okay, maybe this time it will be a little bit better. I didn’t know that I could win. I was just like, I’ll just take one day at a time, one match at a time. So I was just thinking of one match at a time." On winning the title she said, "I was actually blank after winning. In my mind, I was literally blank. So for some time, I was trying to process whatever happened. It took some time for me to process and eventually I came to terms with it, that alright, I made it."

Reflecting on her change in mindset, Ashmita acknowledged the difficulty she had with self-belief: "I had a tough time believing in myself. I underestimated myself a lot. But these past tournaments and the performances I gave really built me up. Surely, I believe I can continue to play this way and consistently."

On criticisms that her talent was undermined by errors, she said: "A lot of people keep telling me that I’m talented, but then error-prone and all of that. I know that. I know that I’m error-prone. But it’s not like I try to make errors on my own. It just happens. Usually people keep telling you that you should have played like that, you should have played like this. But the player usually knows what is going on inside the court. We have to deal with the conditions regarding the air-conditioning or wind, whatever is going on inside the court. For me, the players know how to handle it. So it’s not that we are doing it on purpose. But I also take it in a positive way that I have to work on it." She added that she concentrated her work with her coach on rallying: "Nothing much changed, but I did a lot of training with my coach, especially rallies. So that I can keep up with the rallies and make fewer errors, while also using my attacks."

Ashmita described having to become independent off court as well, saying she had to manage travel and finances largely by herself while her parents remained supportive: "Yeah, I had to figure out everything by myself. But my parents were always ready to help. They were always there." She recalled travel mishaps and singled out one overseas moment of personal pride: "Yes, I have a lot of difficulties with trains, especially trains outside India. While returning, I was going to Malaysia, but I had to take a train in China. It was really difficult because no one understands English. I have always missed trains, or I have gotten on the wrong trains in Europe. So I was very scared to travel alone. But in China, I managed to get on the correct train, and I was in the correct place. So I felt really proud of myself."

Describing her current daily routine and influences, Ashmita said: "We train every day. Only Saturday and Sunday are off days. In the morning, we start from 8.30 to 11.30 on court, that is playing. From 4 pm to 5 or 5.30, we have either a running session or a gym session. And from 5.30 to 6.30 or 7, we have our skill session." She also named role models: "I have been a very big fan of Lee Chong Wei and Carolina Marin since the beginning. I have always looked up to them. Even Marin has suffered so many injuries and has come back. So I have always looked up to her." On the prospect of supporting young players from the Northeast, she said: "I wouldn’t say I would take that kind of responsibility. But there are a lot of talented kids in the Northeast. A lot of badminton players in Assam are also quite talented. So I hope they can also do well internationally."

On how she has managed her competition schedule and ranking recovery, Ashmita explained her selection strategy: "A lot of thoughts like that came to my mind because, after all, financially I have to be strong to compete in tournaments. At that time, I did not have much financial support. When I was out of the top 200, my mind was like, how do I go about it? Because after coming into the top 40 and then going back to zero, it was really tough. But then I had to select some tournaments which I could afford. Whichever tournaments I was going to, I made sure that at least I had to play the semifinals or something like that, so that my points also increased. That was my plan before."