Malvika loses to Singapore's world no. 16 in the first round of the Badminton Asia Championship

The 55th ranked Indian shuttler could have scripted one of her biggest career wins, but the wind was against her, which largely affected her game. She exhibited a decent skillset but couldn't handle the drift as the thrilling 51-minute showdown culminated in a 9-21, 21-17, 26-24 loss for Malvika. She initiated aggressive gameplay at the beginning of the match and took the first game 21-9 by scoring five consecutive points twice.

However, the second game put her against the wind, which turned the game in favour of the Singaporean shuttler despite Malvika's best efforts. Jia Min finally won the second 21-17 and called upon a decider. The third game was a tough battle, but Jia Min secured an early 11-8 advantage at the break. Once they flipped sides, Jia Min's 14-8 lead converted to 18-10, but Malvika clocked nine consecutive points to reinstill the spirit of competition back into the game. She maintained her focus and scored against the drift, but a few minutes later, Malvika succumbed to the wind and went down 24-26. 

After the match, Malvika shared her sentiments: "I think luck was not on my side today. The match was exciting, and it was a good learning experience for me." She continued, "With the wind on my side, I played aggressively and took the first game with ease. In the second game, I was playing against the drift. Though I lost the same, I managed to play better than her if we compare our scores when she was playing against the wind. The decider was anybody's game, especially after I scored 8-9 successive points. I gave a tough fight, but it was not my day."

PV Sindhu Smashes into the Quarterfinals

Maharashtra duo of Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi couldn't hold their ground against the seventh-seeded Malaysian team of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, ranked 13th in the world. The 80th ranked Indian pair exited the women's doubles after opening-round defeats 15-21, 11-21 in 27 minutes. However, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty thrashed Japan's Akira Koga and Taichi Saito 21-17, 21-15 in straight sets to enter the quarterfinals. 

Meanwhile, PV Sindhu of India advanced to the quarterfinal after her 21-16 21-16 straight-sets victory against Singapore's Yue Yann Jaslyn Hooi in Manila, Philippines. Meanwhile, world championships bronze medal winner Lakshya Sen was ousted out of the tournament, thanks to unseeded Li Shi Feng of China. He tackled the fifth-seeded Indian and defeated him 21-12 10-21 19-21 in his opening round men's singles tie that lasted 56 minutes. Similarly, world number 19 Sai Praneeth went home after a straight game 17-21 13-21 defeat against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.