Shenzhen, Sept. 1 -- India's rising shuttler Unnati Hooda bowed out of the China Masters 2026 in the first round, with a loss to world number 12 Kim Ga-eun in the women's singles opening round on Tuesday at Shenzhen.

The 18-year-old, ranked world number 25, lost to Kim 21-10, 21-18 in 37 minutes at Shenzhen Sports Centre Gymnasium in China, as per Olympics.com.

Kim raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening game and raised her advantage to 11-3 in the mid-game interval. The South Korean maintained control after the break and won the first game. In the second game, Unnati bounced back well, with a 3-0 lead, but Kim managed to move ahead to a 7-5 lead, before Indian took back the lead briefly at 15-14.

Trailing 16-18, Unnati won two points to le...