Interesting things you should know about badminton prodigy Malvika Bansod

The 20-year-old is currently taking part in the Thomas and Uber Cup.

Indian badminton's teenage sensation Malvika Bansod seems to be the next star in women's singles after PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. She made the cut for the Indian team for the first time this year to participate in the Thomas and Uber Cup. In the ongoing tournament, the 20-year-old produced a spectacular performance after defeating higher-ranked Beatriz Corrales of Spain in straight games 21-13, 21-15.

While Malvika is ranked 104th in the world, the Spaniard is ranked 71st. Her performance against a higher-ranked opponent speaks volumes of her potential as a shuttler.

Hailing from Nagpur, Maharashtra, Malvika Bansod already holds a few notable achievements in her career. However, there is still a lot to know about the upcoming women's singles player. 

Here are five major things you need to know about the young Indian sensation: 

Winner of multiple international series 

The 20-year-old southpaw has won a series of international titles. In September 2019, she won the Maldives International Future Series tournament. Within a week, she won the Annapurna Post International Series held in Nepal. Malvika Bansod then clinched a bronze medal at the Bahrain International Series held in October of the same year. 

Meanwhile, she also managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Indian International Challenge. With impressive performance in these four tournaments, she entered into the world's top in the 200 rankings. She is currently ranked 104th in the world. Malvika has also won the gold medal at the Asian School Badminton Championships and the South Asian U-21 Regional Badminton Championships.

An excellent 2021 season so far

https://twitter.com/KhelNow/status/1447172141401530374

Malvika Bansod had a spectacular start to the 2021 season. She emerged victorious at the Uganda International and Lithuanian International series. Moreover, she also reached the quarterfinals of the Austrian Open the same year.

The youngster was also elated to be part of the Sudirman Cup and Uber Cup for the first time, after emerging as the top-ranked player in the selection trials held by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for women's singles. 

Various awards & excellence in academics

India's No 2 Malvika Bnasod has also won a couple of awards such as the Nag Bhushan award by a Maharashtra-based non-profit organization. She also won the Khelo India Talent Development Athlete award and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Athlete award. 

Malvika belongs to a highly-educated family. Her parents are dentists. Also, her mother earned a master's degree in sports science to help her daughter in her badminton career. She started playing badminton at the age of eight, but it hasn't affected her academics at all. Notably, she has secured more than 90% in her 10th and 12th board exams. 

Currently, she is a BE first year (Computer Science) student at SRM University in Chennai. 

Die-hard Lin Dan fan 

An interesting fact about Malvika Bansod is that she idolizes two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan, who is also a left-hander. She hopes to meet the Chinese shuttler someday in her life. 

Malvika is currently training at the Police Parade Ground Badminton Academy in Raipur under the supervision of junior chief national coach Sanjay Sharma. With such notable performances over the years, she holds the potential to become the next women's singles sensation in India. 

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