Malvika Bansod and the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out as Indian shuttlers endured a winless day at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
In the qualification round, Bansod took on former junior world champion Goh Jin Wei for a spot in the women’s singles main draw. The 20-year-old Indian put up a fight in the second game but that didn’t stop the Malaysian from registering a 21-10, 21-17 victory in 33 minutes.
Apart from Bansod in qualification, Indian shuttlers featured only in the women’s doubles main draw section on Tuesday.
Treesa and Gayatri were up against the in-form pair of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The Malaysians closed out the match in straight games after having five-point leads at both mid-game intervals. Treesa and Gayatri, back on the circuit after a break, had their moments but went down 14-21, 14-21 in 33 minutes.
Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam faced a stiff challenge in fourth seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan. The Indians were pegged back quickly in the contest, losing 7-21, 10-21 in 32 minutes.
Pooja Dandu and Arathi Sara Sunil, meanwhile, lost 17-21, 17-21 against eighth seeds Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva from Bulgaria, while the India-USA pairing of Srivedya Gurazada Ishika Jaiswal lost 10-21, 10-21 against China’s Liu Xuan Xuan and Xia Yu Ting.
The big guns begin their campaign on Wednesday with all eyes on PV Sindhu, who turned 27 today, versus He Bing Jiao.
Badminton, Malaysia Masters Super 500: Sindhu faces tough ask, Prannoy to lead men’s charge
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