Saarbrücken (Germany) – Indian shuttlers experienced a day of mixed fortunes at the Hylo Open 2025 on Friday, with Unnati Hooda's stunning victory highlighting the event. The rising star progressed to the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Super 500 event, while Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty bowed out after their respective defeats in the men's singles quarter-finals.

Unnati Hooda, currently ranked 34th in the world, secured a remarkable victory against fourth-seeded Hsiang Ti Lin of Chinese Taipei. Hooda defeated the world number 24 in straight games, with a score of 22-20, 21-13 in a 47-minute match. This win allowed the 17-year-old to avenge her previous loss to Lin at the Malaysia Masters earlier in the year. Hooda displayed composure and skill to secure her place in the final four. She is set to face either top-seeded Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia or Azerbaijan's Keisha Fatimah Azzahra in the semi-finals.

Lakshya Sen, faced France's Alex Lanier in a hard-fought quarterfinal clash. Despite a strong comeback in the second game, Sen was defeated 17-21, 21-14, 15-21. This marks Sen's second defeat to Lanier this year. Earlier in the tournament, Sen had displayed impressive form, defeating fifth seed Christo Popov in straight games to advance to the Round of 16. Sen's win over Popov, the world number 7, was a significant breakthrough after an inconsistent period. He continued his momentum by defeating compatriot Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian in the subsequent round to reach the quarter-finals.

Ayush Shetty's Hylo Open campaign also ended in the quarter-finals. He lost a narrow match to Finland's Kalle Koljonen with the scores being 19-21, 21-12, 22-20. The tense battle lasted for 70 minutes.