Hylo Open Badminton: 2024: Mavika Bansod, Keyura Mopati and RS Santosh Ramraj make winning starts
Indian shuttlers Malvika Bansod, Keyura Mopati, and Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj secured victories in their opening matches, marking a strong start for India in the Hylo Open 2024, a BWF World Tour Super 300 event.
Malvika defeated Bulgaria’s Hristomira Popovska in straight games 21-6, 21-17 in the women’s singles first round at the Saarlandhalle Stadium in Germany while while compatriot Keyura Mopati also advanced by beating Miranda Wilson of Germany 21-15, 21-15 in another women’s singles match on Court 1.
Also read: Hylo Open Badminton: Young Malvika Bansod leads India’s challenge
Another Indian female shuttler, Rakshitha Sree reached the women’s singles second round with a 21-13, 21-19 victory over Yu Chen Hui of Chinese Taipei in 34 minutes on Court 2.
Focus on top seed Malvika as other top stars Indians miss the event
This focus is on Malvika as she is the top-ranked female Indian player and she delivered a convincing victory according to the seedings.
Malvika quickly raced ahead in the first game, reaching a 5-2 lead and further extending it to 10-2. The 23-year-old badminton player from Nagpur continued to improve and dominated the first game with a 21-6 victory.
Also read: Hylo Open Badminton: Sathish Kumar faces compatriot Chirag Sen in first round
In another women’s singles clash, Keyura Mopati and Miranda Wilson were engaged in a close battle in the early stages, with both players going neck-and-neck till 10-10.
Keyura took the lead at 13-10, but her German opponent caught up and equalized at 14-14. However, Keyura then scored five points in a row from 16-14 to claim the first game 21-15.
The second game started as a close battle before Keyura opened a gap at 9-5 before Miranda came back to level scores at 9-9. Miranda took a narrow lead after that but the Indian managed to keep this tight. They battled it out till 15-all after which the Indian won five points in a row to win the second game and seal victory in 37 minutes.
