Nineteen-year-old Shuttler Ashmita Chaliha defeated Jeon Jui of Korea 21-19, 21-15 to win the women singles title in the Dubai International Challenge on Sunday.
Ashmita Chaliha
But Subhankar Dey had to settle for a silver medal after going down in the final to Vladimir Malkov 10-21, 15-21 in men singles. The Indian-Malaysian pair of Tarun Kona Lim Khim Wah also had to satisfy with a silver medal in men’s double when it went down to Kim Sang Soo and Yoo Yeon Seong 13-21, 16-21 in the final.
Ashmita, who has six career wins, took just 33 minutes to dispose of the Korean, who is ranked 29 in the world. Though the first game was a touch-and-go affair which the Indian won by mere two points, the shuttler from Assam did well to sew it up in the second with confidence as the Korean made too many net errors.
“The close first game win gave me confidence. I was well ahead in the second and never felt the pressure,” said the teenager. “My rhythm was good and I played to my strength attacking well.”
Earlier, she had beaten compatriot Neha Pandit 21-19, 21-17 in a close quarterfinal battle while got a walkover in the semifinals from Beatriz Corrales of Spain. Before that she had accounted for Egyptian Hadia Hosny in the round of 32 and Czech Republic’s Katerina Tamolova in R 16 rather easily.
Dey was not in his elements in the first game as the Russian ran up a good lead and maintained it throughout. The Indian, who did well in the second, was found wanting in execution against the Russian who was tactically good.