Unnati nicks battle of next gen at Taipei QF against Devika; Tanvi in semis too

This is as healthy as a rivalry can get.

Unnati and Devika have played each other numerous times domestically, and rivalries between the new generation of India’s women’s singles are not edgy. They struggle together, are mostly friends beyond the court, are driven to get better when the other does well, and will deploy all their resources to defeat the other at the same time. None of them are PV Sindhu. All of them need results at the next-level to dislodge a resurgent Sindhu from India No 1 spot.

There’s also Tanvi Sharma at No 34, who made semis too, with a massive upset over 4th seed Supanida Katethong, 21-15, 18-21, 21-14. She’s currently India No 3, ranked 34, and the most prodigious of them all. The win was important after her lingering recovery from dengue and the Indian could’ve wrapped it up in two at 18-19 in the second. She plays World No 24 Huang Yu-Hsun for a place in the final.

In the Devika-Unnati match, the shorter framed shuttler, seeded third, had a distinct advantage, with her speed over the taller eighth seed. Happily for India, both have a sting in their smashes. But Unnati showed greater grit to outlast Devika in longer rallies, with shuttle placements and some high hand-speed.

Devika possesses the game to make up leads – she came from 6-15 down to level at 20-all. She used body smashes to narrow the gap at 20-19. But Unnati is zippier in her flatter exchanges, and was conventionally more patient in staying in the longer rallies. She worked out ways to pin Devika to the back court with her tosses and clears and invited the error into the net from the baseline — something Devika needs to learn avoiding, from Sindhu.

It was also Unnati’s crafty mid-court pushes and her natural propensity to scoop out front court drops that tested Devika’s movement. Unnati constructs pounts; Devika is still welding her fabulous attack to canny shot selection, something that makes Unnati good in her read of the game. It’s how Unnati broke the deadlock at 23-21: a fast parallel that ambushed Devika who slapped the shuttle in the frenzy into the net.

Devika narrowly led for 7 of the first 9 points of the second set, but had Unnati snapping at her heels zipping shut her attempt to break away. The taller Devika would park at one spot and make Unnati run all over to go 9-8 up. But in a longer rally, Unnati was stubborn, waiting for the error that inevitably arrived.

The whole plan was to tire Devika out and Unnati is a ticking brain who especially against taller shuttlers, can manipulate the shuttle on the vertical plane. She’ll send a few high tosses, then dabble at low flat parallels and suddenly dip it low.

The two even traded smashing errors between 16-12 and 17-13, but Unnati held the momentum. At 19-14, she had an exquisite backhand short smash – a hand-speed benefit and shoe of skill, and reached 20-15 with another push drop. In the end it was an easy win for India No 2 over a shuttler who has the big game, and will get better on speed and strength eventually.

But Unnati will need to win a title to match Devika in 2026. She plays the wily Thuy Linh Nguyen, ranked 10 places above her at 18, in semis. You could dream of an all-India final too, but Unnati and Tanvi will need to dig deep, keep energy levels up to cross the tricky opponents.