India’s Ashmita Chaliha, on Saturday, went down 13-21, 12-21 to home favourite Supanida Katethong in the women’s singles semi-final of the 2024 Thailand Maters Super 300.
The 24-year-old Chaliha gave good glimpses of her potential, but the world No 17 never looked in trouble against her lower ranked opponent.
The Thai shuttler started well in the contest as Chaliha, ranked 61st in the world, trailed 5-11 at the first mid-game interval.
The Indian did manage to pocket a flurry of points late in the game – five in a row at one point, to reduce a 7-18 deficit to 12-18, but Katethong soon got her act together to close it 21-13 with ease.
Chaliha had a much better start in the second game as she was within a touching distance of the Thai at 6-7, but soon found herself trailing 7-11 as Katethong pressed on the accelerator.
The Indian once again won a few points post the interval, but never looked to be threatening enough as Katethong wrapped up the match in 35 minutes.
The loss marked an end to a good week for Chaliha as she made it to her first-ever World Tour semi-finals.
The southpaw had earlier defeated Ester Nurmi Wardoyo 21-14, 19-21, 21-13 in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Chaliha’s loss also drew curtains on the Indian campaign at the 2024 Thailand Masters.
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