NAGPUR: Malvika Bansod grew up revering Saina Nehwal. On Thursday afternoon, the 20-year-old Nagpur player became only the second Indian shuttler after PV Sindhu to beat her idol and former World No 1 Saina on the domestic or international circuit since 2007.
Malvika took just 34 minutes to get the better of No.4 seed Saina, who was playing her first tournament since October last year, in straight games 21-17, 21-9 in their first encounter ever. The left-hander termed her India Open 2nd round triumph over the 31-year-old Olympic medallist in New Delhi on Thursday as "one of the biggest wins of her career".
Malvika said the feeling had not yet sunk in. "I was really excited after the win. Saina has been the flag bearer of women's badminton in India for more than a decade. When I started playing, I used to get overawed by her style and powerful play. It was a dream come true to play against her," said the left-hander.
Malvika has been training with Sanjay Mishra in Raipur since 2018 and spoke about the strategy before the big clash. "I played an all-round game today, there was nothing specific about it. There was no pressure on me. I just thought I have to give my best and play freely," said the World No. 111 Malvika.
Mishra told TOI that it was a golden opportunity for Malvika and she made the most of it. "She was confident before the match started, asking me how to control her excitement if she took the lead. Malvika should now continue to reap her rich vein of form."
Saina too was all praise for Malvika and another youngster Aakarshi Kashyap. The veteran shuttler said, "Malvika is very good and is a better player of rallies. She is doing well at the highest level and is only going to improve. I hope she does well in the tournament."
Saina has been grappling with injuries ever since her knee surgery post the 2016 Rio Olympics. In October, she suffered a groin injury in Denmark. Saina said she came to the India Open to see where she stands. "I started playing on December 26-27. In the 6-7 days that I got before the tournament I tried to improve my court movements, though I could not work much on my fitness," she said.
Nevertheless, Saina was happy that her body could withstand those two matches. "I didn't have to give up anywhere because of my groin or knee and was able to return shots like the ones Malvika was playing today - a lot of close drops and long tosses," said the seasoned campaigner.
She added, "When I last played in October, I couldn't hit those difficult shots but today I was able to move across the court. But as the fitness issue persists, you cannot fight well against players who are very good like Malvika, Aakarshi, Sindhu."
In the quarterfinal, Malvika will face India No 3 Aakarshi Kashyap, who made light work of compatriot Keyura Mopati 21-10, 21-10. The Nagpurian will take confidence from having defeated Aakarshi 21-15, 21-9 on New Year's Eve in Hyderabad to claim her third Senior National ranking tournament.
