Before her match against Akane Yamaguchi, her father Dhruba Jyoti had helped ease her pressure, telling her, “Just play your own match. Make fewer errors, keep the shuttle inside the lines.” This was when she had spoken of running into the World No 2 – a win-machine who turns up no matter what, and only loses to An Se-young.

But Thursday was going to be Ashmita’s day. Playing freely, playing like the opponent’s reputation mattered not a jot. And flinging her racquet with sweet timing that made some of her retrieves seem outrageous, Ashmita defeated Yamaguchi, 21-19, 21-18 at the French Open.

“No actually I’m shivering. It’s very overwhelming. It’s my biggest win and I’m trying to still digest. It will take a day,” she would tell BWF at the Tremblay en France, Paris after entering her first ever quarterfinalists of a Super 750.

Just last week, Ashmita had been hammered by Yamaguchi, 21-18, 21-10. “Actually I played her last week in Denmark. First set I lost in 18, second I lost in 10.…