Teenage sensation Unnati Hooda makes stunning debut at China Open, shows PV Sindhu the exit door

In a remarkable achievement, 17-year old Unnati Hooda made a stunning debut at the World Tour Super 1000 level by reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open in her very first appearance at the tournament. Unnati reached the last eight after beating former world champion PV Sindhu 21-16, 19-21 and 21-13. This was only the second time that Unnati was facing Sindhu. She will now face former world no. 1 Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals. As a result of this win, Unnati will break into the top 30 of the world rankings next week.

Unnati Hooda, speaking on her win over PV Sindhu, in the China Open said, "Playing against PV Sindhu is always a challenge, and today's match was no exception. The rallies were long and grueling, but I managed to stay focused and composed under pressure. I'm happy of the way I gave it my all and won. It was a great test for me, and I'm looking forward to the next one."

PV Sindhu, who had registered a big win over Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki in her opening match - her first win over a top-10 ranked player this year - failed to continue the winning momentum. After levelling the match by winning the second game 21-19, the 30-year-old was unable to match Hooda's pace and shot selection in the deciding game. Hooda, who had previously beaten Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-11, 21-16, became the youngest Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open.

With her win on over the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist, Gilmour, the 17-year-old has became only the third Indian, after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, to win a Superseries/Superseries Premier/World Tour 1000 before turning 18.

Meanwhile, India’s top men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, continued their winning momentum at the China Open 2025, a BWF Super 1000 tournament, to book a place in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The world no. 12 duo delivered another composed performance, edging past Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana 21-19, 21-19 in straight games, underlining their strong title aspirations. In men’s singles, HS Prannoy played against world no. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei but finished his campaign after a hard-fought encounter.