Fast-rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod created history of sorts on Saturday, as she moved into the final of Hylo Open 300 in Germany. This is southpaws only second final in the Super 300 category — after she made it to the final of the Syed Modi International in 2022, and lost to fellow Indian, PV Sindhu.
The World No. 34 Bansod, who entered the tournament as an underdog, proved her worth, as she finished the match in straight games, to beat 38 ranked J Jakobsen from Denmark 23-21, 21-18. As the score suggests, the first game was a tight one, and could have gone either way, but the Indian held her nerve, to enter the summit clash.
The match started with Jakobsen taking an 11-6 lead in the first game, but Malvika Bansod responded well, to catch her opponent at 13-13. From then on, the scores reached 19-19 too, but Indian prevailed. By the time second game came, the Dane had lost steam and didn’t look like any competition.
At one stage, she was leading 15-7. But Jakobsen did make a comeback and did give her opponent a scare, but that was just not enough on the day. Having said that, now with this win, another Danish awaits Bansod in the final, Mia Blichfeldt, who is ranked 36th in the world.
Unfortunately, Ayush Shetty, another Indian in the fray, lost his semis battle against Christo Popov of France, in straight games. Despite a strong start, the world no. 51-ranked Shetty couldn’t keep up with Popov’s pace and ultimately lost 17-21, 13-21.
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