New kid in the block: Ashmita packs a punch at Senior Nationals

Promising Assamese player Ashmita Chaliha gave ample display of her immense talent, packing a punch during her women's singles semifinal clash with Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu at the Senior Badminton Nationals here Friday.

The 19-year-old from Guwahati, who had clinched two international titles at the Dubai Open and TATA Open in 2018, displayed a wide array of strokes and showed great temperament during her fighting 10-21 20-22 loss to Sindhu, a two-time World Championship silver medallist.

Initially, the occasion seemed to have got to Ashmita as she couldn't connect her strokes and lost the opening game rather meekly.

"I was nevous initially and hit out a lot and couldn't match her pace in the first game," Ashmita said later.

However, with the local crowd egging her, the Assamese progidy's prowess was in full display in the second game when she fought her way from 8-13 down to not only draw level but also grab a 19-16 lead at one stage, conjuring hopes of a decider.

The experienced Sindhu eventually prevailed after clawing back to 19-19 and grabbing a match point at 20-19. Ashmita saved one before going wide to hand over the match to her fancied opponent.

"I managed to give her a fight in the second game. I was constantly talking with myself and those were not funny chats. I was reminding myself of my errors," she said.

"I need to work on my errors. I hope next time I don't go down in straight games," said Ashmita, who had played against Sindhu at the Inter-State Team Championship in Vijaywada in 2015.

Ashmita burst on the scene when she sealed a spot in the Asian Games squad, riding on her semifinal finish in the Bengaluru All-India event and then winning in Hyderabad.

Indonesian coach Edwin Iriawan joining the Assam Badminton Academy a year back seemed to be a boon for Ashmita.

"Ever since Indonesian coach Edwin Iriawan came here, he has been helping me to work on my stamina and stroke," she said.

A self-confessed fan of Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei, Ashmita followed the former world no. 1's game and even tried to copy his strokes.

"I used to watch Lee Chong Wei's videos, he is my favourites and I tried to copy his strokes."