Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], May 23 : Indian badminton players Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha have advanced to the main draw of the Malaysia Masters 2023 women's singles event at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
They progressed to the main draw after winning their respective qualifiers on Tuesday.
Malvika Bansod defeated Chinese Taipei player Hsiang Ti Lin by 21-12, 21-19 in 43 minutes in the qualification round of the BWF Super 500 event.
Indian badminton player started slow and was trailed by 3-6 in the first game however, she turned the tables. Bansod quickly collected seven points and got the lead of 9-2 in the second game. But Hsiang Ti Lin showed great mettle and made a comeback. In the end, however, Bansod achieved the game points and won the first set.
After the break, Malvika Bansod stepped up her defense and, despite a strong comeback from the Chinese Taipei shuttler, kept her two-point lead and moved on to the next round.
Malvika Bansod will now face China's world No. 8 Wang Zhi Yi in the round of 32 on Wednesday. Wang Zhi Yi defeated Malvika Bansod at the same stage of the German Open 2023 earlier in March according to Olympics.com.
The world No. 50, Ashmita Chaliha did a great return in the game after losing the first set, she 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 on Wednesday.
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.
Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, world No. 82, lost to Chinese Taipei's world No. 48 Chi Yu Jen 10-21, 14-21 in 36 minutes while world No. 44 Mithun Manjunath went down to Chinese Taipei's world No. 47 Chia Hao Lee 13-21, 19-21 in 35 minutes.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will take on Denmark's Line Christophersen in the round of 32 on Wednesday. While, India's top-ranked men's singles player HS Prannoy and world championship medallists Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen will also be in action.
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