India’s women’s singles campaign at the Korea Masters just delivered its best day yet. Ashmita Chaliha and Rakshitha Ramraj both fought their way into the semifinals on Friday, setting up an all-Indian clash for a place in the final of the USD 250,000 Korea Masters Super 300.
Ashmita produced the standout result of the tournament so far, dismantling top seed and World No. 22 Hina Akechi of Japan 20-22, 21-15, 21-19 at the Asan Yi Sun-sin Gymnasium. There was a personal edge to the win, too — it avenged Ashmita’s only previous meeting with Hina, a loss at the Malaysia Super 100 last year.
Rakshitha, unseeded and ranked outside the top tier coming in, matched the occasion with a comeback win of her own, beating third seed and fellow Indian Tanvi Sharma 18-21, 21-19, 21-18 in a contest that stretched past the hour mark. It marked her fourth straight win over Tanvi head-to-head — no small feat against a player who had just claimed her maiden BWF title at the Taipei Open only a week earlier.
Not every Indian pairing had a day to celebrate, though. Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy saw their run end in straight games, falling 7-21, 8-21 to Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Soh Wooi Yik.
How Ashmita Got Past Hina
The quarterfinal against Hina was every bit the battle the scoreline suggests. Ashmita dropped the opening game after a tight finish, but rather than let it rattle her, she came out sharper in the second, cruising to a 21-15 win to level things up and force a decider.
The final game followed a similarly dramatic arc. Ashmita raced out to a 9-3 lead and carried a 11-9 edge into the mid-game interval, then extended it further to 18-11 — a position that looked comfortable until Hina mounted a real fight, reeling off six straight points to close the gap to 17-18. It was the kind of moment that’s swung plenty of matches the other way, but Ashmita held her composure through the closing stretch to close it out 21-19 and book her semifinal spot.
Also Read:Watch: Will Jacks Takes Stunning Boundary-Line Catch In The Hundred, Leaves Fans In Awe
How Rakshitha Got Past Tanvi
Rakshitha’s win had its own share of twists. She started fast in the first game, building a 13-8 lead that looked well in hand — until Tanvi responded with real intent, winning eight of the next nine points to flip the momentum entirely and move ahead 16-14. From there, the third seed held her nerve to close out the opening game.
Rakshitha regrouped in the second, holding a narrow lead through the mid-game interval before finding two game points after Tanvi found the net. She let the first slip, but converted the second when Tanvi’s return sailed wide, levelling the match and forcing a decider.
The final game played out along the same lines as the second Rakshitha carrying a slender two-point lead into the interval and, this time, managing to maintain it. She capitalized on a string of unforced errors from Tanvi in the closing stages to seal a hard-fought 21-18 win and secure her place in the last four.
With both Indians through, the semifinal between Ashmita and Rakshitha is already guaranteed to send one Indian into the final of the tournament.