Taipei [Taiwan], May 9 : Young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda cruised into the semi-finals of the ongoing Taipei Open 2025 badminton tournament on Friday, as per the Olympics.com.
Ayush Shetty, competing in the men's singles, got the better of seventh-seeded Brian Yang of Canada 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 in the quarter-finals. The match lasted one hour and 11 minutes.
The 20-year-old Indian badminton player defeated former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in the round of 16 after getting the better of third-seeded Lee Chia-hao of Chinese Taipei in his opener.
This will be world No. 44 Ayush Shetty's second semi-final appearance this year. He had also made the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters Super 300 in March after memorably upstaging former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the round of 32.
In the semi-finals, Ayush Shetty will play top-seed Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei, who accounted for Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia in his top-eight fixture.
Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah had ousted India's Tharun Mannepalli in the second round on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Unnati Hooda, 53rd in the badminton rankings for women's singles players, won her quarter-final match against Chinese Taipei's world No. 65 Hung Yi-Ting.
The 17-year-old Indian shuttler took 52 minutes to secure a 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 victory. She will take on top-seeded Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan in the semi-finals.
In the round of 16, Unnati Hooda defeated Chinese Taipei's world No. 99 Lin Sih-Yun 21-12, 21-7.
Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda are the only two Indian badminton players still alive in the Taipei Open.
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