Malvika Bansod, an Indian shuttler, advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s singles at the Odisha Open 2022 badminton tournament on Thursday. In a 33-minute match, Bansod, 20, defeated junior world No. 1 Tasnim Mir 21-13, 21-15.
Tanya Hemanth, 18, will be her next opponent on Friday.
Ashmita, another pre-tournament favourite, also advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Anupama Upadhyaya 21-17, 21-16 in the round of 16.
In the absence of Olympic medalists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, Malvika and Ashmita are the top-ranked Indian women at the Super 100 event, with world rankings of 67 and 69, respectively.
Third seed Subhankar Dey defeated Rahul Yadav Chittaboina in the men’s singles 21-16, 21-14. He will face Kiran George, who defeated Chirag Sen in the quarterfinals 21-12, 21-13. Mithun Manjunath, another Indian contender in men’s singles, defeated Malaysian seventh seed Cheam June Wei 21-11, 21-18. On Friday, Manjunath will face a stiff challenge from Priyanshu Rajawat, the winner of last year’s Ukraine International. MR Arjun and Treesa Jolly advanced to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with a 21-18, 21-5 victory over Raju Mohamed Rehan and Jamaludeen Anees Kowsar. In the next round, the winning team will face Nazeer Khan Abu Bakkar and Nila Valluvan.
Prasanta Patnaik