India’s Ashmita Chaliha continued her impressive run on the BWF World Tour after booking a place in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, emerging as the lone Indian shuttler left in contention.
Playing at the Axiata Arena, the Assamese shuttler produced a confident straight-game victory against Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei, winning 21-13, 21-16 in just 27 minutes. The win marked another significant milestone in Ashmita’s growing international campaign, as she reached the quarterfinal stage of a Super 500 event for the third time in her career.
Ashmita, who entered the main draw through the qualification rounds, displayed composure and control throughout the contest against the former two-time junior world champion. She dominated the opening game with aggressive rallies and sharp court coverage, never allowing the Malaysian player to settle into rhythm. Goh attempted to fight back in the second game with improved attacking play, but Ashmita maintained her intensity and wrapped up the match in straight games to continue her dream run in Kuala Lumpur.
The 26-year-old has steadily rebuilt momentum on the international circuit this season and her performance in Malaysia further underlined her consistency against quality opponents. Ashmita had earlier defeated Taiwan’s Pai Yu Po in the qualifiers before overcoming Indonesia’s Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan in the opening round.
Her next challenge will be against Denmark’s eighth seed Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, who advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Indian shuttlers Anmol Kharb and Malvika Bansod in successive rounds.
Malvika’s campaign ended after a hard-fought three-game defeat against the Danish player. The Indian shuttler started strongly and took the opening game 21-16, but Line responded with greater control and precision to claim the next two games 21-8, 21-15 in a match lasting close to an hour.
Another Indian in women’s singles, Devika Sihag, also bowed out after losing to top seed and former Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China. Devika struggled to match the Chinese star’s pace and experience, going down 16-21, 13-21 in 36 minutes.
With several top Indian names missing from the tournament, Ashmita’s performance has been one of the bright spots for the contingent at the USD 500,000 event, which is part of the BWF World Tour Super 500 calendar. The Malaysia Masters is being held from May 19 to 24 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
India’s challenge in the doubles events also came to an end on Thursday. In men’s doubles, the pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun lost 14-21, 15-21 to China’s Hu Ke Yuan and Lin Xiang Yi in the round of 16. Despite the defeat, Hariharan and Arjun had impressed earlier in the tournament after producing one of the biggest upsets of the opening round. The Indian duo stunned seventh-seeded French brothers Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov with a commanding 21-19, 21-15 win. Their aggressive front-court play and quick transitions had drawn attention before their campaign ended against the Chinese pair.
India’s mixed doubles pair Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Radhika Sharma also exited the tournament after suffering a straight-game defeat to American duo Presley Smith and Jennie Gai. The Indian pair lost 12-21, 25-27 in a closely contested second game after failing to recover from a slow start.
With the rest of the Indian contingent eliminated, all eyes will now be on Ashmita as she looks to continue her strong run and secure a place in the semifinals of one of the most competitive tournaments on the BWF circuit this season.
