US Open Super 300: Malvika Bansod through to semis; Rajawat, Treesa-Gayatri lose
Malvika beat higher-ranked Kirsty Gilmour 10-21, 21-15, 21-10 to set up a last-four clash against Natsuki Nidaira of Japan.
Malvika Bansod is currently ranked 49th in the BWF World Rankings.
In one of her best outings on the BWF World Tour in recent times, Malvika Bansod trounced Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the quarterfinal of the US Open Super 300 in Texas on Friday.
After a slow start and losing the opening game badly, World No. 49 Malvika made a stunning comeback to bag the remaining two games and secure her place in the semifinal.
Malvika beat higher-ranked (World No. 22) Gilmour 10-21, 21-15, 21-10 to set up a semifinal clash against Natsuki Nidaira of Japan.
This would mark Malvika's first semifinal appearance since the Syed Modi International in January 2022, when she made a runner-up finish after losing the final to ace shuttler PV Sindhu.
On Saturday, the Nagpur girl will look to seal her berth in the final.
However, barring Malvika, no other Indian shuttler across the categories could advance beyond the quarterfinal stage.
In the men's singles quarterfinal clash, Priyanju Rajawat fought hard against China's Lei Lan Xi but went down. Priyanshu won the opening game 21-15 but lost the remaining two games 11-21, 18-21 to get knocked out of the tournament in 61 minutes.
Similarly, in the women's doubles clash between Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato, the Indian duo fought bravely but lost 17-21, 21-17, 19-21 to mark the end of their campaign.