Unnati Hooda, a badminton champion at age 14

Odisha Open women`s singles champion Unnati Hooda in Cuttack on Sunday. PIC/Badminton Association of India

Rohtak-based Unnati Hooda, 14, who became the youngest Indian shuttler to win a Super 100 tournament on Sunday, hopes to improve her BWF rankings after her performance at the Odisha Open. In the final, she defeated compatriot Smit Toshniwal 21-18, 21-11, while in the semis she registered a 24-22, 24-22 win over Malvika Bansod at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Indoor Stadium. It was huge for Hooda to defeat Bansod, who defeated Saina Nehwal at the India Open earlier this month before losing to PV Sindhu in the final of the Syed Modi International.

Talking about her Odisha Open win, the Class IX student of DGV Senior Secondary Public School, Rohtak, Hooda told www.mid-day.com, "I did not see this coming. It is a pleasant surprise. I am feeling very good since I played my best badminton in this tournament. I defeated senior players who are much more experienced and skillful. The Odisha Open will remain special as it is the first international title for me. The experience I got here is just amazing."

Hooda, who is currently ranked 418th in the world, revealed that this tournament has inspired her to work towards her target of reaching the Top 150 by the end of this year. "This win will see my rankings soar. I will get to know my exact ranking later this week, but I know that my rankings will be somewhere around 200 to 250. I am aware that in order to play in Super 500 or Super 750 tournaments I need to have better rankings. I want to be somewhere around 100-150 by the end of this year," said Hooda, who has been training under Parvesh Kumar at the Chotu Ram Stadium in Rohtak since she was eight.

When asked which was the toughest match in the tournament, she replied: "I think the semi-final win over Bansod was tricky and tough. She was the favourite to win, but I did not go into the match thinking about the result. I just wanted to give my best and that is what worked for me. After my second-place finish at the Infosys International Challenge in 2020 this is surely another stepping stone into the badminton world," Hooda signed off.