Unnati Hooda resumed her winning streak on Sunday, defeating Smit Toshniwal in the women's singles final of the Odisha Open 2022 to become the youngest Indian to claim a Super 100 tournament. She had stunned Indian Open finalist Malvika Bansod to reach the final.

The 14-year-old won all of her bouts decisively against far higher-ranked opponents. Hence, demonstrating that her success, which even PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal could not attain at her age, was no aberration.

Furthermore, Unnati Hooda gave Toshniwal an early lead in the first game. However, as she got her stride, she engaged her opponent in lengthier rallies and outsmarted her with half smashes. Unnati was the most dominant figure in the second game. She raced to a 17-4 lead before winning by 21-11.

Read also: Indian Open 2022: Lakshya Sen wins title on debut, beats world champion Kean Yew Loh

In the champion's words

"I am still not able to believe it. Every player I played against were senior in age, Some of them were really very good too, much powerful and stronger than me. They were all higher-ranked players. I just gave my best and had a dream tournament and gained a lot of experience playing against them. I never expected to win the tournament and just played my game. I don't pay too much attention in the result of the match but focus on the process, giving my best in each point. It paid off," Hooda exclaimed in joy.

Nevertheless, Unnati, who is currently ranked 418th, began playing badminton when she was six years old. She participated in a variety of sports, including badminton, football, and basketball. "I regularly play football and basketball as well. These three are my main sports and I like them all. But yes, my father took me to a badminton centre in Rohtak. He himself is a badminton player. I started practising seriously at the age of eight. I dream of competing at the Olympics and win medals like Sindhu didi and Saina didi".

Unnati had previously stunned Malvika Bansood, the World No. 67. Earlier, who had upset Saina Nehwal in the India Open. Hooda defeated her in the semi-finals after defeating Samiya Imad Farooqi in the quarter-finals. Moreover, with this triumph by her side, Unnati becomes the youngest Indian to claim a Super 100 tournament.

Read also: Badminton News: PV Sindhu wins any BWF Title after two-and-a-half years

Indian star shuttler PV Sindhu has been eliminated from the Indonesia Open 2025 badminton tournament after losing in the round of 16. She was defeated badly by Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.

Sindhu shows tremendous fight in first two games

PV Sindhu started the match brilliantly. She won the first game 22-20. She did not give any chance to the opponent to recover in this game. Pornpawee Chochuwong had no answer to Sindhu's aggressive returns as the score read 10-16 in favour in the first game. However, the tables turned completely in the second game.

Where Sindhu looked set to lose the first game, she pulled it right back in to clinch it, as the score read 22-20. After winning the first game, where Sindhu hoped to capitalise, Chochuwong was quick to turn it around, dominating Sindhu in the game, winning it by 21-10; furthermore, she went on to win the third game by 21-18, as Sindhu was eliminated from the Indonesia Open 2025 badminton tournament.

Satwik-Chirag enter quarterfinals

On the other hand, Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came back from a game down to notch up a win to enter the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open 2025.

Satwik-Chirag beat Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 16-21, 21-18, 22-20 in a match lasting one hour and eight minutes in the BWF Super 1000 tournament.

Treesa-Gayatri lost

The women’s doubles duo Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also lost 13-21, 22-24 to Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto of Japan in the round of 16 stage.

In mixed doubles, Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath exited after a straight-game loss against Thailand’s Dechapol Puavarankuroh and Supissara Paewsampran. The scoreline read 21-7, 21-12 in favour of the Thai shuttlers, who wrapped up the match in just 25 minutes.

The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty performed brilliantly in the Singapore Open 2025 badminton tournament, making it to the semifinals with a straight-game win over world No. 1 Malaysian duo of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin on Friday.

Also Read : Kidambi Srikanth Stuns Yushi Tanaka to Reach Malaysia Masters Final, First Since 2019

The Indian pair, which has been facing fitness challenges for some time, showed excellent performance in this match. The Indian pair displayed rock-solid defence and controlled the front court with precision to register a 21-17, 21-15 win in a 39-minute quarterfinal clash at the Singapore Open 2025 Super 750 badminton tournament.

Third semifinal of the season

This is their third semifinal appearance of the season, having reached the last-four stage at both the Malaysia and India Open earlier this year.

The former world No. 1 Indians held a 6-2 head-to-head record against the Malaysians going into the match, although they had lost their most recent meeting at the India Open.

Match Report

The match began with two service faults in the first four points and featured short rallies as both pairs looked to execute angled returns and attack at the earliest opportunity. As a result, the score moved evenly from 1-1 to 7-7 before the Indians gained a three-point cushion at the interval, with Satwik dictating the serve and third shot.

The Indian pair maintained the pressure to go up 15-11 before Satwik committed a service error and Izzuddin unleashed a jump smash to narrow the gap to 13-15. A brutal forehand smash from Satwik pushed India ahead at 18-15. Izzuddin then hit one wide, and Chirag, who had earlier sent a shot long, redeemed himself with a straight smash to earn three game points.

Goh buried a service return into the net, handing the Indians the opening game and the early advantage. Chirag made a few errors early in the second game, but the Indians did well to keep pace in the high-speed exchanges, with the score level at 6-6.

Satwik and Chirag then reeled off four consecutive points before an unforced error halted their momentum. A body blow from Chirag forced a weak return from Izzuddin into the net, giving India a four-point lead at the interval. A sharp backhand at the net took the Indians to 15-9 after the break. Satwik then sent down a thunderous smash to make it 16-10.

Though the Indians committed a few unforced errors, Satwik produced another fierce return to earn five match points. They sealed the win after another error from their opponents.

Kidambi Srikanth turned back the clock in spectacular fashion, battling past Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-18, 23-21 in a heart-pounding semi-final at the Malaysia Masters on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Indian badminton star, once the world’s best, is now headed to his first BWF World Tour final since 2019—a moment that feels like a triumphant homecoming for fans who’ve cheered him through thick and thin.

Srikanth, who had slipped to world number 82 earlier this month, battled through the qualifiers to reach the main draw of the tournament. Srikanth's journey to the final has been nothing short of inspiring, as he outclassed higher-ranked opponents with a combination of determination and resilience.

Read Also | India’s Next Badminton Superstar: The Rising Stars to Watch in 2025

The tightly contested match against Tanaka saw Srikanth hold his nerve in crunch moments, particularly in the second game, where he edged out a 23-21 victory after a very close finish.

KIDAMBI SRIKANTH HAS DONE IT 🤯🥹

- First BWF Final for him in 6 Year! pic.twitter.com/Op7XhNE5yj

— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) May 24, 2025

This achievement marks a significant comeback for the Indian shuttler, who has faced challenges with form and rankings in recent years. His last BWF final appearance was at the 2019 India Open against Viktor Axelsen, and this achievement in Kuala Lumpur signals a potential return to his peak form.

Srikanth will now face either Kodai Naraoka of Japan or China's Li Shi Feng in the final, as he aims to clinch his first title since the 2017 French Open.

I'M CRYING 😭❤️

Srikanth Kidambi Into The Finals Of BWF Malaysia Masters 2025 !!!

Srikanth Kidambi Defeats Yushi Tanaka In Straight Games
🇮🇳 21-18 , 24-22 🇯🇵

Final vs Kodai Naraoka 🇯🇵 / Li Shi Feng 🇨🇳
Goodluck For The Finals Srikanth ❤️✨#MalaysiaMasters2025 pic.twitter.com/jUzvlkPAAV

— Badminton Media (@BadmintonMedia1) May 24, 2025

India's experienced shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Friday booked his berth in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament. Srikanth is now the only Indian in the tournament.

Also Read: India’s Next Badminton Superstar: The Rising Stars to Watch in 2025

First semi-final in a year

Against world number 65, Srikanth defeated France's 18th seed Toma Junior Popov 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in a match that lasted one hour and 14 minutes. Former world number one Srikanth will have to overcome the challenge of Japan's Yushi Tanaka to make it to the Malaysia Masters 2025 final. Tanaka defeated Toma Junior's brother Christo Popov 21-18, 16-21, 21-6.

This will be the first semi-final in a year for World Championship and Asian Games silver medalist Srikanth.

Srikanth made inspiring comeback to seal the contest

The Indian badminton player made a brisk start, surging to a 7-4 lead in the opening game, only for Popov to claw his way back. It was the French shuttler who held a game point opportunity at 21-20, but Srikanth turned the tide to snatch the opener.

Srikanth trailed by four points at the break in the second game. He drew level at 15-15 but lost steam as the match went into the decider.

Srikanth was also four points behind his opponent in the third midgame break of the match, but this time, he mounted an inspiring comeback to seal the contest. It was his fourth win over Toma Junior Popov from six meetings.

Also Read: Indian Badminton players struggle with the slow court: Here is why

Kapila-Crasto's journey ends in quarter-finals

In the other semi-final, fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan and second seed Li Shi Feng of China will face each other. In mixed doubles, the journey of the pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto came to an end in the quarter-finals. Kapila and Crasto lost to top seeds Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China 22-24, 13-21 in 35 minutes.

Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen crashed out in the first round of the Thailand Open 2025 badminton tournament while Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda advanced to the second round of the women's singles after winning tough matches in the Super 500 tournament.

Unnati faces a tough challenge

Unnati Hooda faces a tough challenge against top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong, while Malvika Bansod takes on former world champion and seasoned Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon in the second round.

Aakarshi Kashyap completes the women's singles trio as she looks to continue her campaign. In the men’s singles draw, Tharun Mannepalli remains the lone Indian hope.

Lakshya and Priyanshu suffered early exits

In the men's singles, both Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat suffered early exits, bowing out in the first round. The women’s singles saw better fortunes, with Aakarshi Kashyap, Unnati Hooda, and Malvika Bansod progressing to the second round, while Anupama Upadhyay and Santosh Ramraj were eliminated.

Lakshya Sen was ousted by Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in a three-game encounter that lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. Sen, ranked among India’s top badminton talents, went down 18-21, 21-9, 17-21 in a match that saw momentum swings.

After narrowly losing the opening game, Sen responded with a dominating performance in the second, unleashing sharp smashes and fast-paced rallies to level the match. But Nguyen dug deep in the decider, pulling ahead 17-13 and holding his composure in the pressure moments to complete the upset and move into the second round. India’s men’s singles woes were compounded by Priyanshu Rajawat’s exit, as he fell short in another three-game battle, losing 13-21, 21-17, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.

Kidambi Srikanth could not qualify for main round

Earlier, former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth could not qualify for the main round of the Thailand Open 2025 badminton tournament after losing his second match in the qualifiers on Tuesday.

Srikanth, a world championships silver medallist, defeated Sankar Subramanian 21-15, 21-17 in his first round of qualifiers before losing to Tharun Mannepalli 21-16, 21-19 in the second.