India’s Ashmita Chaliha won the biggest title of her career on Sunday, defeating China’s Han Qian Xi 14-21, 21-14, 21-14 in the women’s singles final of the Korea Masters. The 26-year-old recovered from a game down to complete an impressive comeback at the Yi Sun-sin Gymnasium.

Chaliha, ranked world No. 50, began strongly and established a 9-5 advantage in the opening game. Her overhead strokes and straight smashes initially troubled Han, but the Chinese player targeted the Indian’s forehand-side defence and won six consecutive points. Han maintained her momentum to secure the first game 21-14 and take control of the final.

The Indian responded with greater patience and reduced the errors that had affected her opening game. Leading narrowly at 10-8 in the second, Chaliha produced an athletic defensive retrieval before recovering quickly to strike a reflex winner. The point energised her performance and drew an enthusiastic response from the spectators as she levelled the match by taking the game 21-14.

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Chaliha continued to use the playing conditions effectively in the deciding game, maintaining a five-point cushion and varying her placement from the overhead position. Her ability to disguise down-the-line and deep cross-court shots with a similar action repeatedly unsettled world No. 35 Han. A steady flow of winners carried the Indian to another 21-14 game and the championship.

The victory completed a significant comeback for Chaliha, who suffered a serious knee ligament injury in South Korea two years earlier and returned home on crutches. She later moved from Bengaluru to Guwahati, stayed at the National Centre of Excellence hostel and worked on rebuilding her fitness, consistency and confidence while taking greater responsibility for managing her career.

Semi-final appearances in Macau and Malaysia had indicated Chaliha’s improving form, but the Korea Masters title marked her most important breakthrough. She became the third Indian women’s singles player, after Devika Sihag and Tanvi Sharma, to win a Super 300 tournament in 2026. Her success also strengthened India’s depth in the discipline, with 11 players now ranked inside the world’s top 52.

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