Malvika Bansod finishes second best at the Italian International Challenge Badminton tournament

The World No. 48 Wen-Chi Hsu dominated Malvika Bansod on the court and was victorious with a straight-set victory after just 27 minutes of play, ending the impressive run of the 20-year-old Indian shuttler.

It was the second time Malvika Bansod lost against Wen-Chi Hsu, with her previous loss coming at the Wales International tournament last year, where she lost 16-21 and 12-21. 

Malvika did not have enough time to rest before the final clash, and playing three consecutive matches took a toll on her performance. Therefore, she was not quick enough, which allowed Wen-Chi Hsu took advantage of her tiredness to wrap up the game in less than half an hour.

Malvika Bansod won two matches on the last day of the four-day event in Italy before advancing to the final. She pulled an impressive reversal to defeat teenager Tanya Hemanth of Karnatka 12-21, 21-16, 21-15 in an all-Indian sem-final faceoff. The match lasted more than an hour and was energy-sapping for World No. 53. The previous quarter-final against Insyirah Khan was also considerably tiring for the Indian shuttler as it went on for eight rounds and lasted for over an hour.

Malvika Bansod is one of the fastest rising badminton players in India. She represented the Indian squad at the prestigious Uber Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2022 and won the 2021 Lithuania International badminton tournament. The 20=year-old from Nagpur defeated Indian sensation Saina Nehwal in her first BWF Super 500 tournament at the 2022 Indian Open to advance to the semi-finals. Bansod also made it to the 2022 Syed Modi International finals, where she fell to the two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu.