Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod secured her first-ever Super 1000 quarterfinal berth at the China Open after a hard-fought victory over higher-ranked Kristy Gilmour.
The 22-year-old from Nagpur, ranked 43rd, outlasted the world number 25 and two-time Commonwealth Games medalist from Scotland 21-17, 19-21, 21-16 in a gruelling 65-minute women's singles round-of-16 match on Thursday.
"This is the first time I will play a quarterfinal of a Super 1000 tournament so it is a dream come true and the biggest achievement of my life so far," Malvika said after the match.
"I dreamt about this before the tournament that how would it be if I reached the quarters and now I'm top 8, so it's a great feeling," she added.
Talking about the match, Malvika further added, "There is a lot of drift from this part so I found it difficult to control in the last parts of the last game and second game as well. But I'm glad god helped me."
The win comes a day after the 22-year-old defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.
The Nagpur Shuttler feels she has been able to control the shuttle in the tricky conditions.
"My retrieving is working well, I am able to control the shuttle better than the others. The conditions are a bit tricky for both players but I'm able to handle it better," she said.
She added that she has focused on enhancing her strength, and it is yielding positive results.
"This circuit is very tough because if you are entering a Super 500 or 1000 you end up playing a top 10 in the first round as I'm not seeded yet,” she said.
She added, “So, I need to be physically strong from the beginning itself. I have been working on that."
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