Young Indian shuttler Devika Sihag stormed into her maiden BWF Super 300 final with a straight-game win over World No. 35 Huang Yu-Hsun at the US $250,000 Thailand Masters here on Saturday.
The 20-year-old unseeded Indian, who claimed her maiden BWF International Challenge title at the Malaysia International last year, registered a 22-20, 21-13 win over fifth-seeded Huang in the women's singles semifinal.
Seemingly down and out at 15-20 in the opening game, Devika bounced back, saving five game points to seal the opener, and continued the momentum in the second to prevail over Huang, who drowned in a cesspool of unforced errors. The world No. 63 will face Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei in the summit clash.
The two shuttlers fought early, moving to 7-7 at one stage. Huang then surged ahead, slowly building a substantial lead. The Indian was guilty of handing her opponent opportunities to quickly finish the points as Huang led 18-14.
Aided by a service error from Devika and a straight smash, Huang grabbed five game points. The Taiwanese then went wide, while Devika prevailed in a net duel. Huang next found the net as it became 18-20. An alert Devika then stood near the net to dispatch one more and, when Huang smashed wide, the Indian brought it level at 20-20. She earned her sixth point on the trot to hold a game point herself and sealed the game after the Taiwanese once again smashed wide.
The second game started on an even note as both committed too many unforced errors, but Devika managed to curb her mistakes to open up an 8-5 lead. For Huang, nothing seemed to go her way as she drowned in her own pool of errors, allowing Devika to take an 11-5 lead at the break. Devika tried to engage her opponent in long rallies, moving to 14-8. She used her overhead drops, forehand flat drives and better net play to trouble her opponent. Soon she was 17-9 up.
Two nervy shots saw her miss the lines on both flanks as it became 17-11. Huang again smashed into the net to see Devika reach 19-12. The Indian then sent one wide. An on-the-line return on the backline gave seven match points to the Indian and she sealed it with a smash.
Devika’s rise on the circuit has been steady and consistent. The youngster claimed her maiden international title at the Malaysia International in August 2025 and later contributed to India’s mixed team bronze at the 2025 World University Games.
Her upward trajectory continued last season as she finished runner-up at the Indonesia Masters Super 100 and made it to four title clashes in 2024, lifting trophies at the Swedish Open and Portugal International, while settling for second place at the Estonian International and Dutch International.
Also read: Devika Sihag stuns Supanida, enters Thailand Masters semis
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