India's Unnati Hooda went down against Kim Ga Eun of South Korea while 2025 world champion Shi Yu Qi suffered yet another first-round defeat in the China Masters in Shenzhen, on Tuesday.
Up against a higher-ranked rival, Unnati made a slow start and just couldn't match Kim, employing wide variety of strokes to dominate the proceedings. It was one-way traffic as Kim raced to the finish line in the opening essay.
The 18-year-old put up a much improved display in the second essay, landing some winners to make it an interesting affair. However, Kim, who's ranked No 12 in the world, always seemed to have that edge, that extra gear in crucial moments. Kim, mixing her long shots and delicate shots, troubled the Indian on several occasions. But Unnati, who's World No 25, refused to yield and earned some hard-fought points to make it an absorbing contest. At 18-18, it was anybody's game. But Kim stepped up to seal the contest. In the end, the score-line read 21-10, 21-18 in the South Korean's favour.
Home hero Shi, who had lost in the Round of 64 against Ayush Shetty in he recent World Championships, once again fell in the opening round, this time at the hands of Loh Kean Yew, also a former world champion, of Singapore.
Loh made an explosive start and stunned Shi with some powerful returns. The former World No 1 was guilty of errors and Loh captured the first game with ease. Loh continued to trouble Shi with his potent smashes in the second game, taking a 7-0 lead. There was no way back after that as Loh continued to apply the pressure, eventually going on to win the match by a handsome score. Loh won 21-11, 21-10 in 30 minutes.
This is a big blow for Shi, who fell from World No 1 to 6 recently. He'll be hoping to regain his powers before the Asian Games.
Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun, who were the other Indians in action on the day, retired mid-match against Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China in the first round of the men's doubles category. The Chinese pair were leading 11-8 when the Indians retired.
