Macau, June 19 (IANS) Ashmita Chaliha continues her strong run in the Macau Open BWF World Tour Super 300 with a convincing win over Korea’s Kim Min Sun to reach the women’s singles semi-final here on Friday.

Ashmita defeated Kim 21-16, 21-18 in just 37 minutes to set up a last-four clash against another Korean, Park Ga Eun, who received a walkover in the quarterfinals from second seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.

The opening game between Ashmita and Kim was a neck-and-neck affair till 14-14. The Indian then clinched four straight points to open up a sizeable lead and then maintained the advantage.

The second game saw Kim taking the initiative and leading Ashmita 11-5 at the mid-game interval. But the left-handed Indian kept the pressure on her opponent and won five consecutive points from 16-18 to clinch the match.

The 26-year-old from Assam returned to competition in May after a three-month injury break. She delivered another solid performance to keep her impressive streak going. Ranked No. 63 in the world, Chaliha underwent surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation after suffering a medial meniscus tear in her right knee at the Korea Open.

Since returning to the circuit, she has reached the quarterfinals of both the China Masters Super 100 and Malaysia Masters Super 500 before making it to the semifinals this week. Chaliha will now face South Korea’s Park Ga Eun for a spot in the final.

On the other hand, fellow Indian Anmol Kharb’s journey ended here. The world No. 51 started strong against fourth seed Han Qian Xi, but she couldn’t keep up the pace and lost 21-14, 15-21, 13-21 in a 60-minute quarterfinal match. The Chinese player, ranked 36th in the world, bounced back after losing the first game to secure her place in the semifinals.

However, eighth seed Anmol Kharb’s challenge came to an end at the last eight stage as she went down 14-21, 21-15, 21-13 against fourth seed Han Qian Xi of China.

–IANS

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