Indian shuttlers ended the Taipei Open, a BWF Super 300 event, without a title after youngsters Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda failed to overcome the semifinal hurdles, losing their respective men's and women's singles clashes on Saturday. However, they showed ample promise to raise hopes for India.

Ayush, 21, gave a strong account of himself throughout the tournament, defeating former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in the second round and All England Open runner-up Lee Chia Hao in the third.

However, against 35-year-old Chou Tien Chen, one of Taipei's most decorated shuttlers with a World Championships bronze and numerous World Tour titles, Ayush ran out of gas in a two-game semifinal clash. After going toe-to-toe for most of both games - leading 18-17 in Game 1 and 15-14 in Game 2 - Ayush failed to capitalise on his advantage against a player known for staging comebacks from the thinnest of chances.

Ayush could do nothing but watch Chou stomp around the court to seal his place in his first final in almost a year. Although Ayush's varied shot selection helped him early, Chou's control over the net allowed him to win crucial net exchanges. Chou maintained pressure with precise returns to win the match. He will now hope to extend his double-digit World Tour figure to 11.

It was frustrating to watch the Indian shuttler lose from such close positions. But this remains the most familiar trend in Indian badminton now - so near, yet so far. Lakshya Sen remains the last Indian men's singles player to win a World Tour title, at the Syed Modi India International in November.

In women's singles, a similar script followed, with Unnati, 17, losing the battle of teenagers against 18-year-old Japanese sensation Tomoka Miyazaki 19-21, 11-21 in 43 minutes.

Unnati showed her class throughout the tournament, taking down compatriot Anupama Upadhyaya, Sih Yun Lin, and Yi-Ting Hung en route to the semifinals. However, up against a top-10 player, she failed to match the skill and temperament of Miyazaki, the 2022 World Junior Championships gold medallist.

Unnati started well, taking an 11-6 lead in the first game interval. She executed her shots well, hitting precise body smashes and positioning herself effectively at the net. Her crafty shots and chop blocks helped her maintain the lead. But after the break, Miyazaki upped the ante and forced Unnati to commit errors, taking the opening game.

The second game saw Unnati lose momentum early, giving away space to Miyazaki to take a 15-6 lead. The Japanese did not need much effort to wrap up the contest from there.

Miyazaki, who finished runner-up at the China Open Super 1000 earlier this year, is now chasing her third BWF World Tour title after winning the Korea Masters and Orleans Masters in 2023 and 2024, respectively. In contrast, Indian youngsters in women's singles are yet to win a World Tour title. PV Sindhu remains the last Indian shuttler to win a women's singles title, which came at the Syed Modi India International in November last year.

With Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty - who are still recovering from injuries -remaining out of action, along with the women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, India's fortunes in these two categories ran dry. India's top mixed doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto did not compete at the Taipei Open.

Eight events into the 2025 BWF World Tour, Indian shuttlers are yet to clinch a title, marking a worrying decline in the fortunes of Indian badminton.

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