Dream Run For Raunak Chouhan at US Open Badminton 2026

The 18-year-old Raunak Chouhan dream ended as he lost to L.Y.Su of Chinese Taipei in two straight games during the semi-finals of the Super 300 US Open tournament played at California on 27^th June 2026. Raunak made a solid start to the first game with attacking shots keeping Su under pressure before the Chinese Taipei player showed courage with attacking shots. At the mid-game break, Su took a 11-8 lead. After the interval, Su looked in complete control before Raunak made strong comeback to take 5 points in succession to level scores at 15-15. Su held onto his nerves winning the first game by 21-17.

The second game was a closely fought affair as both players showed class with smashes and drop shots. Both players kept hitting attacking shots. At the break, Su led 11-9. After the interval, Raunak made a solid comeback, but it was not enough as Su won the second game by 21-19.

It was a sensational performance by Raunak Chouhan who fought for each point right till the end against the world best. Ranked 80^th in the world, Raunak showed glimpses of skills and put pressure on opponents with his aggressive style of play. It was a remarkable performance by future star of Indian badminton.

https://www.indiasportshub.com/articles/rounak-chouhan-and-devika-sihag-march-into-us-open-semi-finals-as-indian-badminton-continues-dream-run

Journey of Raunak Chouhan in the Super 300 US Open Badminton 

Raunak Chouhan made into the main draw from the qualifying round. The 18-year-old youngster defeated E Roy of France in three games with 21-19, 21-16 scoreline. It was an impressive performance by Raunak keeping the opponent under pressure with his aggressive style of play and making life tough. 

In the 2^nd qualifying match, Chouhan defeated K Kuo of Chinese Taipei in three games. The Indian struggled in the first game losing by 13-21. During the next two games, Raunak produced a dominating performance, putting pressure on Kuo winning with 21-14, 21-10 scoreline to move into the main draw. 

The first-round match saw Raunak face Indian counterpart S. Subramanian. It was a closely fought affair right till the end before Raunak won with 23-21, 21-16 scoreline to move into round 2. The first game was closely fought affair as both players fought for each point before Raunak held his nerves to win with 23-21 scoreline. The second game saw Raunak produce a dominating performance, keeping the opponent under pressure and winning by 21-16 scoreline. 

Raunak then produced the biggest win of his career, winning against top seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in two straight games. It was an impressive performance by Raunak keeping Chou under pressure with an attacking style of play, winning the first game with 21-17 scoreline. 

It was a closely fought affair in the 2^nd game with Raunak trailing most of the time. It was a stunning comeback as he showed class making life tough for Chou with rallies and keeping him under pressure. The 18-year-old Indian held his nerves to win by 26-24 to move into the quarterfinals. 

Raunak showed his skills against the top seed and kept fighting for each point. It was a tremendous performance by the youngster. The quarterfinals match was against Misha Zilberman of Isreal. It was an epic effort by Raunak in the first game putting pressure Misha. He looked comfortable most of the time but Misha showed fighting spirit to make a strong comeback. Raunak held his nerves to win the first game by 23-21. 

Raunak dominated the 2^nd game right from the word go putting Misha under immense pressure. Despite some fightback in later half, the Indian youngster outplayed his opponent winning by 21-11 scoreline to move into the semi-finals. Raunak had a dream run in this tournament proving his worth during the Super 300 US Open. In today’s match against Su, the Indian could not cope with pressure on first semi-finals at this stage. 

Raunak provided some fightback in both games, but few unforced errors and great play by Su ensured that the hopes of All Indian finals ended. He will look to continue his superb run-in upcoming tournaments. He showed his attacking skills with tall height and made life tough for his opponents with his smashes. With the likes of Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and others, Raunak will be another top Indian shuttler to watch out if he continues to do the same way he did in the US Open 2026 Super 300 tournament. 

His rankings would improve with his performance in the Super 300 US Open tournament. It will be a great thing for Indian badminton if Raunak can maintain his fitness and takes part in the bigger events like the Thomas Cup. Raunak was a part which was the bronze medal in the 2026 World Junior Championship played in Guwahati this year.