Asian Games: Ayush Shetty exits in third round, Unnati, Sindhu advance (Ld)

Ichinomiya City, Sep 26 (IANS) Ayush Shetty’s Asian Games campaign came to an end in the men’s singles third round after the Indian shuttler went down fighting to Chinese Taipei’s Tien-Chen Chou 16-21, 21-19, 17-21 in a closely contested battle on Saturday.

Ayush, who had previously defeated Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7 and thus advanced into the third round, was able to make a comeback after having lost the first game to Chou. However, the Indian was not able to recover since Chou stayed calm in the final game and thus won the match.

The defeat came after Ayush had needed just 21 minutes to dispatch Tajibullayev in the second round. The World No. 20 Indian controlled that contest from the outset, denying his opponent any sustained opportunity to build momentum.

Meanwhile, Unnati Hooda kept India’s chances in the singles event alive by winning her way into the Round of 16 of women’s singles with a hard-fought victory over Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching, the match ending after 79 minutes with a scoreline of 21-14, 20-22, 21-19.

The 25th-ranked Indian player began strongly against the World No. 38 Malaysian, winning the first game 21-14; Wong then gained the upper hand in the second, securing a 22-20 victory in the later stages and thus forcing a decider.

The final game was closely contested, but Unnati gained two match points at 20-18. Wong saved the first one, but on the next, she hit a cross-court shot that went wide as the Indian fans erupted in joy.

In the women’s doubles event, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand reached the quarterfinals with a win against Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima by 24-22, 21-18 in a match that lasted one hour.

The win keeps Treesa and Gayatri on course to become India’s first-ever women’s doubles medallists at the Asian Games. A victory over Malaysia’s Pearly Koong Le Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the quarterfinals would guarantee them at least a bronze medal by virtue of reaching the semifinals.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu had also reached the women’s singles Round of 16 earlier in the tournament, winning 21-19 and 21-14 against Chiu Pin-chian from Chinese Taipei.

–IANS

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