Macau, June 20 (IANS) India’s hopes at the Macau Open Super 300 came to an end on Saturday after Ashmita Chaliha suffered a straight-games defeat to South Korea’s Park Ga Eun in the women’s singles semifinals.

Park booked her place in the title clash with a 21-17, 21-9 victory in just 38 minutes, ending Ashmita’s impressive run at the tournament and bringing India’s campaign to a close.

The Indian shuttler looked well on course to claim the opening game after racing to a 15-11 advantage. However, Park produced a remarkable turnaround, winning 10 of the next 11 points to snatch the game and seize control of the contest. Ashmita struggled to regain momentum in the second game as the Korean maintained her dominance to wrap up the match in straight games.

Ashmita had entered the last-four clash on the back of a confident quarter-final performance against another Korean, Kim Min Sun. She prevailed 21-16, 21-18, overturning a six-point deficit in the second game with a brilliant late surge that saw her reel off five consecutive points to seal victory.

The semifinal marked another encouraging performance for the left-hander, who has steadily rebuilt her form after missing nearly three months of action earlier this year because of injury. Before arriving in Macau, she had already reached the quarter-finals at both the China Masters and Malaysia Masters, underlining her consistency on the BWF World Tour.

India’s challenge in the women’s singles had already taken a hit on Friday when eighth seed Anmol Kharb exited in the quarter-finals. The youngster lost 14-21, 21-15, 21-13 to China’s fourth seed Han Qian Xi despite taking the match into a decider.

The men’s singles campaign had ended even earlier, with qualifiers Tharun Mannepalli and Rounak Chouhan bowing out in the pre-quarterfinals. India’s doubles representatives were also eliminated at the same stage.

The Indian contingent will now shift its focus to the US Open, the next stop on the BWF World Tour calendar, which begins on June 23.

–IANS

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