Malvika Bansod defeats Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour; enters quarter-finals of China Open
Talented young badminton player Malvika Bansod extended her remarkable performance by moving to her first-ever Super 1000 quarterfinal, clinching a tough win against the more experienced Kirsty Gilmour in the China Open, which took place in Changzhou on Thursday, September 19.
Malvika fought for more than 60 minutes, defeating the 25th ranked player in the world and a two-time medalist from Scotland in a thrilling women’s singles round-of-16 match. The 22-year-old Nagpur shuttler clinched the victory with a final score of 21-17, 19-21, 21-16.
Malvika becomes second player after PV Sindhu to enter quarterfinals of the China Open Super 1000
She is now the second Indian female singles player, following P.V. Sindhu, to advance to the quarterfinals of the China Open Super 1000 tournament of the World Tour.
Discussing about the game, the Indian player, who currently has a 3-2 advantage over Gilmour, expressed “It feels great. I had actually dreamt of it when I came into the tournament, so I said, how would it be if I reached the quarterfinals? And I wake up and I’m top eight! So it’s a great feeling! I’m thankful that God helped me.”
Also read: China Open Badminton: Malvika Bansod upsets Paris Olympics medalist
The victory comes one day after the 22-year-old beat Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, a bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics. The badminton player from Nagpur believes she has managed to handle the shuttle well in the challenging conditions here.
“My ability to retrieve is functioning effectively, I can manage the shuttle more skillfully than my peers. It’s a little challenging for both players, but I am more capable of managing it,” she mentioned.
Malvika concentrating on improving her muscle power
She mentioned that she has been concentrating on improving her muscle power, and it is producing favorable outcomes.
Bansod, who turned 22 on 15 September, hoped her birthday luck would hold.
“It’s been a lucky week, and usually I play well in my birthday week. It’s going strong now. I had my birthday on 15th, and now it’s 19th. So I hope the luck will continue. Last year this time I played well at the Hong Kong Open, and I got selected to the Asian Games as well.”
