-Olympics
Malvika Bansod advanced to the women’s singles quarter-finals at the Hylo Open 2023 badminton tournament following a 22-20, 21-10 win over Brazil’s Juliana Vieira in Saarbrucken, Germany on Thursday.
Malvika Bansod, 51st in the badminton rankings, defeated world No. 61 Juliana Vieira in 35 minutes to make her first quarter-final in the BWF World Tour 2023 season.
The Indian badminton player was in a spot of bother with Juliana Vieira racing to a 9-3 lead in the first game. Nonetheless, Malvika Bansod fought back with six consecutive points to level the scores.
The Brazilian shuttler, however, seemed favourite to claim the first game with a three-point lead at 19-16. However, Malvika Bansod mounted a comeback at that crucial juncture and took the next four points before ultimately securing the game.
As opposed to the closely-fought opener, the second game proved to be a completely different affair. Malvika Bansod opened up a six-point lead at 7-1 and extended it to 10 points at 14-4 before closing out the match.
In the quarter-finals on Friday, Malvika Bansod will take on world No. 25 Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland.
Results at the Hylo Open 2023, a BWF Super 300 event, will count towards qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Later in the day, world No. 58 Mithun Manjunath crashed out in the men’s singles round of 16 after losing to Hong Kong China’s world No. 19 Cheuk Yiu Lee 21-13, 21-17 in 32 minutes.
Mithun Manjunath put up a fight towards the start in both games at the Saarlandhalle indoor arena. However, his challenge fizzled out at the business end.
Mithun Manjunath trailed 16-13 before conceding five straight points in the first game and went down in the second game after being level at 12-12. Manjunath’s exit leaves Malvika Bansod as the last remaining challenge at the Hylo Open 2023.
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