Ashmita Chaliha secured the biggest win of her career at the French Open in Tremblay-en-France on Thursday, defeating three-time champion and world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi in the second round.
The southpaw from Assam won 21-19, 21-18 to become the first Indian shuttler, after PV Sindhu, to beat the world No. 2. Sindhu had beaten Yamaguchi at the Thailand Open in 2022. The victory also served as sweet revenge for Ashmita, who had lost to Yamaguchi 21-18, 21-10 in the round of 16 at the Denmark Open last week.
Earlier in the tournament, Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma bowed out in the second round of their respective events.
The 17-year-old Tanvi struggled against world No. 1 and top seed An Se Young of South Korea, losing 11-21, 14-21 in a 37-minute women’s singles match. He was trailing 17-21, 6-11 at the time.
Shetty, meanwhile, retired from his men’s singles second-round match against Japan’s sixth seed Kodai Naraoka due to an undisclosed injury.
