Devika Sihag wins Thailand Masters to become third Indian woman to claim Super 300 title | Badminton News – The Times of India

Twenty-year-old Devika Sihag capped her dream run at the Princes Sirivannavari Thailand Masters with a title after her last opponent, Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia, retired midway through the BWF Super-300 title.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The Haryana girl, who trains in Bengaluru under coach Umendra Rana, was leading 21-8, 6-3 when Goh withdrew due to a hamstring injury. The retirement secured Devika’s first major title and also India’s first major title quite early in the season.She is the third Indian girl to win a Super-300 tournament after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.Last year, Indian shuttlers struggled to do well with only Lakshya Sen (Super-500), Ayush Shetty (Super-300) and a few other shuttlers winning the Super-100 tournaments.Delighted with her showing, the unexpected winner, who defeated several higher-seeded players including top seed and local favorite Supanida Katethong, said:“I am very happy today as this is my first Super-300 title. I am looking forward to playing more tournaments and am very happy today. I have played very good matches here.”The youngster indeed played some nice games this week. Her perseverance was on full display as he saved five game points to battle past a higher-ranked Huang YuHsun of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals. Devika trailed 15-20 but scored seven straight points to stun her rival. Earlier in the quarter-finals, the world number 63 Indian caused the biggest upset when she eliminated crowd favorite and world number 16 Supanida Katethong in straight games.