Plenty of positives for Unnati despite loss to Li

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Unnati Hooda’s World championships debut ended in a three-game defeat (21-11, 19-21, 21-23) to 13th seed Michelle Li in the second round on Wednesday. She took the opening game comfortably, but the deciding game went down to the wire, with Unnati admitting that a handful of errors proved costly.

“I feel like in between two or three points, I made a few silly mistakes that shouldn’t have been made,” the Indian said. “Because she’s World No. 13, I think that’s why the silly mistakes [from Michelle] were very few in the critical moments. And whenever she had the chance, she just took it. I have to learn this from playing against the higher-ranked players,” she added.

The Canadian, was equally appreciative of the fight the 18-year-old brought to the contest.

“She’s very talented, lots of potential. I think she’s very quick on her feet, and she’s got great shots and she’s a fighter. Today she played really well…I had to grind pretty hard to pull out the win,” she said.

“I controlled well with the dribble, I adjusted well and… my net game has really improved from my past,” she said. She also felt that she “was a bit more patient” than in her previous games, sticking to her plan and changing it when the Canadian adapted. In the final game, she forgot “for one second that there is a drift on that [near] side of the court,” while she considered a flick serve at one stage but eventually chose against it because she felt both of their “smashes were going really good.”

For a teenager making her Worlds debut, the defeat was a painful one. However, Unnati was richer by the experience and the knowledge of the fine margins required at the top level.

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