Indian shuttlers Malvika Bansod and Devika Sihag were ousted in the second round of the Malaysia Masters. While they bowed out, Ashmita Chaliha stormed into the quarterfinals with a dominant win over Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei.
Malvika, Devika bow out
Indian women's shuttlers Malvika Bansod and Devika Sihag were ousted in the second round of the Malaysia Masters event on Thursday, as per Olympics.com. Despite securing the win in the opening game, Malvika, the world number 51st, lost to world No. 23 and eighth seed Danish shuttler Line Kjaersfeldt by 21-16, 8-21, 15-21. Malvika started out fine in the opening game with an 11-6 lead at the interval and carried on with the momentum to seal the first game. However, from the second game onwards, there was a shift in the momentum as Line won the first eight points and did not really give her Indian opponent a chance, taking the contest to a decider. In the decider, Malvika had a lead of 11-8, but the momentum shifted in favour of the Danish shuttler after the break, and she won. This was Olympian Line's second win in three matches against Malvika.
Also, Devika made the exit in the women's singles competition with a loss to former Olympic champion and top seed Chen Yufei of China by 21-16, 21-13.
Ashmita Chaliha storms into quarterfinals
Ashmita Chaliha continued her impressive run at the Malaysia Masters, storming into the women's singles quarterfinals with a 21-13, 21-16 win over Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei at the Stadium Axiata Arena. Starting from the qualifiers, Ashmita looked in complete control against the world No. 55, dominating the opening game with a comfortable win.
Although Jin Wei attempted a fightback in the second game, the Indian shuttler never allowed her opponent to settle, wrapping up the contest in straight games in just 27 minutes, as per a press release from the Badminton Association of India (BAI). With the victory, Ashmita reaches the quarterfinals of a Super 500 event for the third time in her career. She will next take on eighth seed Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark, who advanced after defeating two Indians Anmol Kharb and Malvika Bansod in the earlier rounds. (ANI)
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