Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod continued her fine form as she cruised to her maiden Super 1000 quarterfinal after eking out a hard-fought victory against higher-ranked Kristy Gilmour in the China Open here on Thursday.
Malvika, ranked 43rd, toiled hard for one hour and five minutes before pulling off a 21-17, 19-21, 21-16 win over the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist and world number 25 from Scotland in a women’s singles round-of-16 contest. “This is the first time I will play a quarterfinal of a Super 1000 tournament so it is a dream come true and the biggest achievement of my life so far,” Malvika said after the match.
“I dreamt about this before the tournament that how would it be if I reached the quarters and now I’m top 8, so it’s a great feeling,” she added.
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Talking about the match, the Indian, who now leads head-to-head against Gilmour 3-2, said “There is a lot of drift from this part so I found it difficult to control in the last parts of the last game and second game as well. But I’m glad god helped me.”
The win comes a day after the 22-year-old defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.
The Nagpur shuttler feels she has been able to control the shuttle in the tricky conditions here.
“My retrieving is working well, I am able to control the shuttle better than the others. The conditions are a bit tricky for both players but I’m able to handle it better,” she said.
She added that she has focused on enhancing her strength, and it is yielding positive results.
“This circuit is very tough because if you are entering a Super 500 or 1000 you end up playing a top 10 in the first round as I’m not seeded yet. So, I need to be physically strong from the beginning itself. I have been working on that,” she said.
However, Malvika, who is the lone Indian shuttler remaining in the competition, has a tough challenge ahead of her as she will be up against fourth seed and two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the last eight stage.
Although the Japanese shuttler has won both the outings against Malvika, the Indian had come close to defeating Yamaguchi and hopes she can cross the line this time round.
“Hope for the best. I am in good form let’s see how it goes tomorrow. I will give my best,” she said.
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