Rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod continued her impressive form this year, pulling off a stunning upset against world No. 23 Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei to advance to the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the Arctic Open Super 500 tournament on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old southpaw, who clinched her first title in over two years at the Azerbaijan International in February, showed her resilience in a hard-fought match, winning 21-19, 24-22 in 57 minutes.
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However, the challenge will intensify in the next round as the Nagpur shuttler prepares to face a former world champion.
Bansod will take on the winner of the match between Ratchanok Intanon, the 2013 world champion from Thailand and tournament top seed, and Wang Zhi Yi, the 2022 world champion from China.
Returning to action after the Paris Olympics, star Indian shuttler P V Sindhu, who is seeded sixth, will take on Michelle Li of Canada later in the day.
Aakarshi Kashyap and qualifier Unnati Hooda are the other Indians in the fray in the women’s singles.
The men’s singles draw features Lakshya Sen, qualifier Kiran George, while the Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — will feature in the women’s doubles.
Santhish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath are the only Indian challengers in the mixed team draw.
