Indian badminton players Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha have secured their spot in the women’s singles main draw of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament. The qualification round saw Malvika, currently ranked 42 in the world, defeat Lin Hsiang Ti of Chinese Taipei with scores of 21-12 and 21-19, while Ashmita, ranked 53rd, won against Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang with scores of 10-21, 21-19, and 21-17 in a match that lasted for 45 minutes at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
Malvika will be up against second-seeded Wang Zhi Yi in the next round, while Ashmita will face fourth-seeded Chinese player Han Yue.
On the men’s side, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, the silver medallist in the World Junior Championships, lost to Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen with scores of 10-21, 14-21 in the second round of qualification after Priyanshu Rajawat of India withdrew. Mithun Manjunath, the National champion, also lost to Taipei’s Chia Hao Lee with scores of 13-21, 19-21 in another qualifying match.
The tournament will feature some of the biggest names in badminton including Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and PV Sindhu. Their campaign will commence on Wednesday.