Badminton: Devika rallies to make Thailand Masters final

Devika Sihag advances to the women's singles final at the $250,000 Thailand Masters after defeating Huang Yu-Hsun, marking her first BWF Super 300 final.

NEW DELHI: Upcoming Indian shuttler Devika Sihag made a brilliant comeback to beat Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Hsun and enter the women’s singles final of the $250,000 Thailand Masters in Bangkok on Saturday.

The 20-year-old beat the fifth seed 22-20, 21-13 in 38 minutes in what was the first contest between the two at the Nimibutr Stadium. In the final, she will take on experienced Malaysian Goh Jin Wei.

Devika started the opening game strongly, but momentum briefly shifted as Huang edged ahead at 8–7 and surged to a 20–15 lead with five game points. Devika fought back, mounting a remarkable comeback by saving all five game points to level at 20-all before clinching the game 22–20.

Carrying that confidence into the second game, the world No.63 dominated proceedings to seal a 21–13 win in the second game to seal victory over her Chinese Taipei rival, and ensure a maiden final appearance at a BWF Super 300 event.

Devika, who trains under U Vimal Kumar and Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama in Bengaluru, has reached the final without dropping a game. Apart from ousting senior compatriot Ashmita Chaliha, the shuttler from Haryana also beat eighth seed Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei and local top seed Supanida Katethong in the next two rounds.

Going into the Thailand Masters, Devika’s previous international showing was reaching the Indonesia Masters final last October where she lost to former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the final. Then too, Devika beat several higher ranked opponents.

At the senior international level, former national champion Devika won two titles in 2024, Swedish Open and Portugal International, before clinching the Malaysia International crown last year. She also reached the finals of the Estonian International and Dutch International in 2024.