In a massive upset at the China Open 2024, India’s singles shuttler Malvika Bansod, the World No. 43 beat the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. The 23-year-old Malvika beat her opponent in straight games 26-24, 21-19 to script history of sorts, to progress into the second round of the competition.
Malvika showed a lot of resilience throughout the match to secure the biggest win of her career so far. In the first game, she had a solid lead of 18-12, but the Indonesian did make a comeback at 19-20 to give the Indian a scare. But Malvika held her nerve to scrape past somehow. Come the second game, she was equally dominant, and raced to a 20-15 lead, but then lost her calm to concede four straight points. Eventually, sanity prevailed as Malvika closed the match at 21-19.
- BWF Rankings: Satwik-Chirag sole Indians in top 10, Treesa-Gayatri hit career high
- India misses out on BWF finals title again as lone hope Treesa-Gayatri crash out in Hangzhou
- BWF World Tour Finals: Treesa-Gayatri keep India’s hopes alive, must-win match awaits
Malvika Bansod Beats Gregoria Mariska at China Open
Now, in the second round of the China Open, Malvika Bansod could be up against another Indian — Samiya Imad Farooqui, provided she wins her match against Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour. On the other hand, it wasn’t the greatest of starts for India in the tournament, as Priyanshu Rajawat had lost his first round match against Yang B of Canada 13-21, 16-21.
