In a defining moment of her fledgling career, Unnati Hooda, 17, stunned two-time Olympic medallist and Indian badminton stalwart PV Sindhu in a gripping three-game contest to storm into the quarter-finals of China Open Super here on Thursday.
Hooda held her nerve in crunch moments to register a sensational 21-16, 19-21, 21-13 victory in 73 minutes. It also marked her maiden quarter-final appearance at a Super 1000 event.
PV Sindhu
This is the first time that Sindhu has lost to a fellow Indian in an international event in seven years, the last being the 2018 Commonwealth Games final loss to Saina Nehwal.
The teenager from Rohtak will battle Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi — a two-time world champion for a place in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also displayed tactical discipline and composure to notch up a 21-19, 21-19 victory over the Indonesian combination of Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana to progress to the last eight.
However, it was the end of the road for HS Prannoy, who bowed out after a hard-fought 21-18, 15-21, 8-21 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen.
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