Odisha Open Teenager Unnati Hooda stuns Malvika Bansod to sail into final
Cuttack Jan 29 PTI Teenager Unnati Hooda produced a stunning performance to take down in-form shuttler Malvika Bansod in straight games and cruise to the womens singles final of the Odisha Open here on Saturday The 14-year-old Unnati fought hard to grab a 24-22 24-22 victory over favourite Malvika in a nail-biting 50-minute semifinal clash at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Indoor Stadium Malvika has been in good nick recently having defeated her idol Saina Nehwal at the India Open earlier this month before losing to PV Sindhu in the final of the Syed Modi International last week She had also defeated junior world No 1 Tasnim Mir in the pre-quarterfinals here The win against Malvika would be a huge confidence booster for Unnati who is ranked 418th in the world In the other womens singles semifinal world No 163 Smit Toshniwal upset fifth seed and higher-ranked Ashmita Chaliha 21-19 10-21 21-17 in one hour one minute to set up a summit clash with Unnati The mixed doubles duo of MR Arjun and Treesa Jolly also advanced to the final with an easy 21-9 21-9 win over compatriots Balkeshari Yadav and Swetaparna Panda With the win Arjun and Jolly set up a summit clash with the Sri Lankan pair of Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahwa who dispatched Indians Mauryan Kathiravan and Kuhan Balashri 21-8 21-17 in little less than half an hour PTI APA AH
Cuttack Jan 29 PTI Teenager Unnati Hooda produced a stunning performance to take down in-form shuttler Malvika Bansod in straight games and cruise to the womens singles final of the Odisha Open here on Saturday The 14-year-old Unnati fought hard to grab a 24-22 24-22 victory over favourite Malvika in a nail-biting 50-minute semifinal clash at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Indoor Stadium Malvika has been in good nick recently having defeated her idol Saina Nehwal at the India Open earlier this month before losing to PV Sindhu in the final of the Syed Modi International last week She had also defeated junior world No 1 Tasnim Mir in the pre-quarterfinals here The win against Malvika would be a huge confidence booster for Unnati who is ranked 418th in the world In the other womens singles semifinal world No 163 Smit Toshniwal upset fifth seed and higher-ranked Ashmita Chaliha 21-19 10-21 21-17 in one hour one minute to set up a summit clash with Unnati The mixed doubles duo of MR Arjun and Treesa Jolly also advanced to the final with an easy 21-9 21-9 win over compatriots Balkeshari Yadav and Swetaparna Panda With the win Arjun and Jolly set up a summit clash with the Sri Lankan pair of Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahwa who dispatched Indians Mauryan Kathiravan and Kuhan Balashri 21-8 21-17 in little less than half an hour PTI APA AH
