When Indian badminton seemed a bit off at the BWF Super 1000 China Open, Malvika Bansod made a huge splash by defeating world No. 7 and Paris Olympics bronze medalist Gregoria Tunjung in the first round on Wednesday. (More Sports News)
Bansod, entering the match against Tunjung as the heavy underdog, delivered a stunning performance, defeating the fifth-seeded Indonesian in straight sets (26-24, 21-19).
This victory could be the biggest of her career. The Indian started strong, building an 18-12 lead in the first game, but Tunjung made a comeback, winning eight of the next ten points to force a tiebreak.
After a long tiebreaker, Bansod secured the first game. With a 1-0 lead, she maintained her momentum and, much like in the first game, held a five-match-point advantage. Although Tunjung nearly saved all of them, Bansod clinched the match point at 20-19 and advanced to the next round.
This win jolted Indian badminton from its slump and was a rare bright spot, given the thin roster and early exits of other players.
In other matches, the doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand exited in the first round after losing 1-2 to the Chinese Taipei duo of P. Hseih and E. Hung (21-16, 15-21, 17-21).
They will be disappointed as they won the first game and held the advantage but faltered in the subsequent games.
Additionally, the mixed doubles team of Sumeet Reddy and Sikki lost their opening match in straight sets to the Malaysian duo of P.J. Lai and K.M. Tan (10-21, 16-21) and also exited the tournament.
