Hylo Open: Malvika Bansod upsets higher seed Kirsty Gilmour

Indian shuttlers had an impressive outing on the third day of the 300 Super Series event.

Four Indians made it to the quarterfinals of the BWF Hylo Open 300 out of the seven matches scheduled in the pre-quarterfinals. Satwik Sairaj RankiReddy/Chirag Shetty are having a great time in Europe as the pair yet again made it to the quarters defeating the English pair. The Indian pair will be up against experienced Sean Vendy/Ben Lane.

Like the previous encounter against the Chinese Taipei pair, the Indian pair lost the first game in a close battle but came back strongly to claim the last two and the match (22-24, 21-15, 21-11).

Malvika Bansod the youngster moved into the quarters defeating higher seed Kirsty Gilmour (retired hurt) from Scotland. Bansod was three game points down in the first set but saved all three and won the game 24-22. The second game was one-sided, with Gilmour retiring due to an injury. This is Malvika’s second victory against a top 20 player and should be a morale booster going into the Olympics qualification cycle.

Kidambi Srikanth as usual lost the opening game tamely without putting in much fight. It has been the case for the veteran since the Thomas Cup victory. But the former World No. 1 came back to claim the second and third games and win the match comfortably against world rank 43 Arnauld Merkle from France. 

The 19-year-old pairing of Gayatri Gopichand / Treesa Jolly beat the Dutch pair of Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen in straight sets. For the majority of the two sets, the Indians were trailing but during the latter stages cruised to take the lead and the match (21-18, 21-19).

Akarshi Kashyap and Vishnu Vardhan Goud/Krishna Prasad Garaga couldn't make it to the quarters losing the respective round of 16 matches in straight sets.