Hylo Open 2024: Malvika Bansod makes winning start in Germany

Saarbrucken (Germany), Oct 29 (IANS) Top Indian hope, Malvika Bansod, male singles player Keyura Mopati and Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj won their respective matches as Indian shuttlers made a good start in the Hylo Open 2024, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 300 event here on Tuesday. 

Malvika, the sixth seed here, defeated Bulgaria's Hristomira Popovska in straight games 21-6, 21-17 in 32 minutes in the women's singles first round while compatriot Keyura Mopati also advanced by beating Miranda Wilson of Germany 21-15, 21-15 in another women's singles match on Court 1 at the Saarlandhalle Stadium here.

Another Indian female shuttler, Rakshitha Sree reached the women's singles second round with a 21-13, 21-19 victory over Yu Chen Hui of Chinese Taipei in 34 minutes on Court 2.

The focus is on Malvika in this event as she is the highest-ranked female Indian player in the event and she lived up to the seedings with a comprehensive win.

Malvika took an early lead in the first game as she surged to a 5-2 lead and then extended it to a 10-2 lead. The 23-year-old shuttler from Nagpur went from strength to strength as she won the first game 21-6.

The second game was a bit closer initially as the two players went neck-and-neck with Malvika leading 7-5. The Indian shuttler, hoping to become the first Indian to win the Hylo Open since Lakshya Sen in 2019, opened up a 10-5 gap before her Bulgarian rival came back to narrow it to 9-11.

Malvika won five consecutive points to lead 16-9 and went on to win the game at 21-17 to reach the second round of the event.

In another women's singles clash, Keyura Mopati and Miranda Wilson were engaged in a close battle in the early stages, with both players going neck-and-neck till 10-10.

Keyura opened up a gap at 13-10 and though her German rival fought back and tied the scores again at 14-all, the Indian shuttler won five consecutive points from 16-14 to win the first game at 21-15.

The second game started as a close battle before Keyura opened a gap at 9-5 before Miranda came back to level scores at 9-9. Miranda took a narrow lead after that but the Indian managed to keep this tight. They battled it out till 15-all after which the Indian won five points in a row to win the second game and seal victory in 37 minutes.