Malaysia Masters 2023: Malvika, Ashmita advance to main draw; Sankar, Mithun crash out

Indian badminton players Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha advanced to the main draw of the women's singles event

Kuala Lumpur: Indian badminton players Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha advanced to the main draw of the women’s singles event at the Malaysia Masters 2023 after winning their qualifiers at the Axiata Arena, here on Tuesday.

Malvika, 40th in the badminton rankings for women’s singles, beat Hsiang Ti Lin of Chinese Taipei 21-12, 21-19 in 43 minutes in the qualification round of the BWF Super 500 event.

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The Indian badminton player was slow to get off the blocks and was trailing 3-6 in the first game before she turned the tables and took a 1-0 lead. With the momentum on her side, Malvika rushed to a seven-point lead at 9-2 in the second game. However, Hsiang Ti Lin mounted a stunning comeback to trail by just two points at the break.

The 21-year-old Bansod amped up her defence after the interval and despite a strong response from the Chinese Taipei shuttler, protected her two-point lead and advanced to the next round.

Malvika will now face China’s world No.8 Wang Zhi Yi in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.

On the other hand, world No. 50 Ashmita recovered well from the drubbing in the first game to defeat Canada’s world No.47 Wen Yu Zhang 10-21, 21-19, 21-17 in 45 minutes. She will face world No.9 Han Yue of China in the round of 32.

In the men’s singles, former junior world No.1 Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian and Mithun Manjunath crashed out after losing in the qualification round in straight games.

World No.82 Sankar lost to Chinese Taipei’s world No.48 Chi Yu Jen 10-21, 14-21 in 36 minutes while world No. 44 Mithun went down to Chinese Taipei’s world No.47 Chia Hao Lee 13-21, 19-21 in 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu will take on Denmark’s Line Christophersen in the Round of 32 on Wednesday while India’s top-ranked men’s singles player H.S. Prannoy and world championship medallists Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen will also be in action.