Paris [France], October 22 (ANI): Ashmita Chaliha registered the most important victory of her profession on Thursday, beautiful three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan within the second spherical of the French Open 2026 badminton match.
The 27-year-old Indian, presently ranked thirty sixth in ladies’s singles, defeated world No. 2 Yamaguchi 21-19, 21-18 in simply 37 minutes to safe a memorable win, as per Olympics.com.
Yamaguchi had completed runner-up on the BWF World Championships in New Delhi earlier this yr, dropping to South Korea’s An Se Young within the remaining.
Chaliha, who claimed her maiden BWF World Tour title on the Korea Masters Super 300 earlier this yr, made a powerful begin within the opening recreation, constructing an 18-14 lead and sustaining her composure to take the primary recreation.
Yamaguchi, who had defeated Chaliha in straight video games on the Denmark Open final week, fought again to degree the opening recreation at 18-18. The Japanese shuttler continued to problem the Indian, however with the rating tied at 19-19, Chaliha held her nerve to clinch the sport.
The second recreation proved extra comfy for the Indian. After a carefully contested opening, the gamers had been degree at 7-7 earlier than Chaliha pulled away to keep up management and full a exceptional victory in straight video games.
Chaliha’s relentless defensive play and constant retrievals additionally put Yamaguchi underneath strain, forcing the previous world champion into a number of unforced errors.
The Indian shuttler will subsequent face both Japan’s Olympic medallist and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara or Thailand’s world No. 8 Pornpawee Chochuwong within the quarter-finals.
PV Sindhu additionally booked her place within the final eight of the BWF Super 750 match, comfortably defeating Japan’s Riko Gunji 21-12, 21-16 in 44 minutes. (ANI)