Malvika Bansod defeated Paris Olympic medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in China Open badminton tournament

Young Malvika Bansod pulled off a sensational straight-game win over Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the women’s singles first round of the China Open Super 100 badminton tournament in Changzhou, China on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Indian, ranked 43rd in the world, showed tremendous composure and saved game points thrice in the opening game to beat world number seven and fifth seeded Indonesian Tunjung 26-24, 21-19 in a match that lasted 46 minutes. This is the biggest win of her career.

Malvika, a B.Tech graduate in Computer Science from SRM University, Chennai, will face Scotland’s Christy Gilmour, a two-time Commonwealth Games medallist, in the next round.

She was the only Indian player in the women’s singles as her compatriots Aakarshi Kashyap and Samia Imad Farooqi made first-round exits. Aakarshi lost to Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei 15-21, 19-21, while Samia was defeated by Gilmore 9-21, 7-21 in a one-sided contest.

In other Indian results, the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost to Chinese Taipei’s Shih Pei Shan and Hung En-Tzu 21-16, 15-21, 17-21.

In mixed doubles, B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy lost to Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia 10-21, 16-21, while Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Adya Variyath lost to Chen Tang Ji and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia 14-21, 11-21, and the women’s pair of Rituparna Panda and Swataparna Panda lost 11-21, 21-16, 11-21 in another close match.

Kiran George faced a tough challenge in the men’s singles but lost the first match to Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-4, 10-21, 21-23.

Malvika, a left-handed shuttler from Nagpur, stepped into the senior international circuit in 2019, winning the Maldives International title and finishing runner-up at the 2022 Syed Modi International. This year she has been in good form and has won the Azerbaijan International title.

Malvika, once coached by former India junior chief coach Sanjay Mishra, made headlines in 2022 when she defeated 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal at the India Open to break into the world’s top 30.

However, his progress was hampered by health issues after participating in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year as he contracted dengue and typhoid.

Following her recovery, Malvika consistently faced top-ranked players in the opening rounds of World Tour events. Despite early exits, she managed to maintain her position in the world’s top 50. She has played close matches against players like world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara.

Currently training under coach Shrikant Vad at the Thane Badminton Academy, Malvika is focused on improving her game.

“This is her biggest win and she is extremely happy. She is performing well but she lacks experience and sometimes luck doesn’t favour her,” her mother Trupti told PTI.

“Sanjay sir was like a father to him, but when he took over as BAI secretary, we had to struggle to find his replacement.”