Malvika Bansod finishes runner-up in Hylo Open, loses final to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt

Hyderabad: Indian badminton player Malvika Bansod finished runner-up at the Hylo Open Super 300 tournament after losing the final to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt.

Malvika Bansod, a native of Nagpur in Maharashtra, lost 10-21, 15-21 to Blichfeldt in the final in just about 45 minutes.

The final was the second Super 300 final for the 23-year-old in her rising singles career. She had earlier made the finals of the Syed Modi International Badminton tournament, losing in the final to PV Sindhu.

Although she lost in the final and finished runner-up, it was a tournament to remember for Malvika as she beat fourth seed Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam in the quarterfinals.

Malvika was a tad slow when compared to Blichfeldt in the final and the Dane made the Indian work hard for every point, dictating the pace of the game.

In the first game, Blichfeldt and Malvika started on an even note, trading points, but once Malvika wasn’t able to keep up with Blichfeldt’s pace and started committing unforced errors, the game swung in Blichfeldt’s way.

The Dane took 12 points in a row and closed the first game 21-10 with ease.

The 23-year-old Indian soon fought back in the second game and opened up a 11-8 lead at the mid-game interval. Desperate to win the second game and force the decider meant Malvika tried to up the ante and soon lost the plot under pressure as she was not able to counter Blichfeldt’s powerful cross-court smashes.

The Dane player drew level at 12-all and then went on to stamp her authority to concede just three points while picking up points at will to win the title.