Unnati Hooda becomes first Indian to enter U-17 women’s singles final of Badminton Asia Junior C’ships

Rising shuttler Unnati Hooda on Saturday became the first Indian to enter the U-17 women’s singles final of the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in Nothaburi, Thailand after beating Japan’s Mion Yokouchi in straight games.

Unnati won 21-8, 21-17 over her Japanese rival in the women’s U-17 singles semifinals. She faces Sarunrak Vitidsarn of Thailand in the gold medal match on Sunday. Under-15 singles player Anish Thoppani and U-17 men’s doubles pair of Arsh Mohammad



and Sanskar Saraswat also posted brilliant victories to move into the finals.

Top-seed Unnati once again lived up to the expectations and stamped her authority as she wrapped up the match in straight sets. The Odisha Open champion has not yet dropped a set in her campaign at the prestigious event. The men’s doubles pairs of Arjun MR-Chirag Shetty (2013) and Krishna Prasad Garaga- Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (2015) have won gold medals for India in the U-17 category at the tournament.