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When you are in form, make it count, says an old adage. Smit Toshniwal is doing just that. The in-form Indian shuttler continued her brilliant form to reach the semi-finals at the Austrian Open in Graz, Austria on Sunday before her dream run was halted.
Following her success at the last week’s Slovenia Open, the 21-year-old Smit Toshniwal maintained her excellent performance to make it to the last-four stage of the Austrian Open International Series.
However, Smit’s dream run was halted by a Chinese Taipei player in the semis and bid to reach the third successive finals of the international tournament this season was foiled as a result.
Top seed Wen Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei defeated Smit 21-13, 21-11 in 28 minutes to enter the final on Sunday. Sixth seed Smit tried her best but could not stop world No. 48 Wen Chi Hsu.
In an all-Chinese Taipei final, Wen Chi will take on second seed Sung Shuo Yun later on Sunday.
Smit, who hails from Nashik, Maharashtra, had surprised badminton experts by reaching the final of the Odisha Open BWF World Tour Super 100 tournament earlier this year in Cuttack.
Smit beats Indian compatriot Keyura Mopati in the quarter-finals
Smit, who is ranked 113 in the world, downed fellow Indian Keyura Mopati 21-10, 21-13 in the women’s singles quarter-finals on Saturday.
The rising star, who trains at the Chetan Anand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, took 35 minutes to get the better of world No. 158 Keyura.
Smit outclassed England’s Estelle Van Leeuwen 21-19, 21-14 in the second round.
She had to however, stretch herself to edge past Indonesia’s Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari 21-18, 21-23, 21-15 in a battle that lasted an hour and 5 minutes.
It was Smit's second successive win over Mutiara in as many weeks. Smit had beaten Mutiara 21-17, 21-7 on her way to reaching the final at the Slovenia International last week.
Other Indian shuttlers fail to impress
Third seed Rituparna Das was upset by Ruzana Ruzana of Indonesia, who won 21-10, 21-10.
In another pre-quarter-final match, Sophia Grundtvig of Denmark overcame Ananya Praveen 21-14, 21-18.
Only one Indian shuttler managed to reach the last-16 stage in the men’s singles. But qualifier Pranav Rao Gandham found third seed Chia Hao Lee too hot to handle. World No. 101 Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei defeated Pranav 21-13, 21-14 in 31 minutes.
