Malvika Bansod knows she didn’t exactly move in the mountains by showing Saina Nehwal tense and ill-fitting at the starting gate at the India Open Super 500. At best, she sent a scraper stone to jump over the standing water, with a gentle lateral movement of the arm. Playing mostly stationary badminton, the 20-year-old has those surface waves that look amazing when he jumps two or three times happily before disappearing into the waterbed. Win 21-17, 21-9 in the second week of January, beating an opponent he grew up loving, that’s good news.
Now to Akarshi Kashyap, the next opponent. There are quarter-finals that can be won once the titles are released.
What will delight Bansoud during this surprise victory over Nihual, who is trying to shake off the rust of the beginning of the season, comes from an injury and has nothing like it in two years, is his reaction to the game plan of the greats. professionals.
Nihwal was cutting through the soft drops of pansod and avoiding the stiff-knee lunge by standing in the front yard. The youngest player managed to push her back with lunges in the defense zone. Nehwal won’t be able to avoid such a long step on the net and is off-center. Bansod took a 16-9 lead for an assertive start, but on the next points he would pick the biggest result of this victory.
“I think after I’ve made a lot of progress, the next three points are for inadvertent mistakes,” he will admit later that Mel won’t go unpunished another day. In fact, Nihal cut the gap to 18-16 in favor of the youngster, before hitting wide twice and conceding the first set.
Malvika Bansod after her victory. (BWF)
After that, Nehwal did not pay. Bansoud didn’t hold back during the race for victory, playing what he described as the initial plan.
“Not just against her (injured Nihull), but this is the general strategy in badminton: get the opponent moving,” he said, subtly minimizing the role Nihull’s injury could have played in the win. It’s smart, obvious reasoning against someone Bansoud claimed was presumptuous as a child.
There was no indication that they were hit with stars in their first encounter. And in this calm lies the promise of Bansud. The game needs to be raised to full swing.
Strength, a great missing element
Bansud joined the Uber Cup India team last fall, but there’s not much to do if someone will let her into the ‘next Sina’.
As a teenager, Bansoud could have had a good victory against Beatriz Corrales, number 51 in the world ranking of Spain, number 51. The second Spanish title was won by Clara Azurmendi, seeded 46. But at age 20, Nihual won the Super Series and the Commonwealth Games, and was considered by the most famous Spanish player, Carolina Marín. Southpaw Bansod has miles to catch up on.
She scored 17 points against world champion Akane Yamaguchi last year, before the Japanese finished 21-12, 21-17. Burnbawi Chuchong did not allow the Indian to go below 15 in 4 game sets.
Saina Nehwal in action. (BWF)
Bansud has won the Lithuanian International League with three national titles, but the international level can trip her up quickly, even if she shows flashes of the ring that don’t bother her.
However, there are still concerns about the force of his blows. Malvika tends to get off to a slow start, a repeat at the Sudirman / Uber Cup, and picks up her pace in the second set. This is a group that is too late to make headway.
Nehwal praised his ability to handle meetings, thinking of Bansud on his feet. But it will take the strength of your shoulders to force the winners.
“There is no upper limit to improving speed and power,” Bansoud said cleverly later. But for now, she’s had a good momentum season, given that the cute drops can only take her so far.
However, there is hope. What sets Bansoud apart from many other talented shot makers is her early awareness of fitness – the bane of all female singles players, with the exception of Nahwal and Sindu. “My transition from junior to senior was not a surprise because I had always focused on fitness, even when I was young. Badminton has always been considered a physically demanding game and therefore a physical necessity, “he said, aware of the only axis in which he is. what careers they depend on.
Malvika Pansod joined the Uber Cup India team last fall. (BWF)
Bansud is a voracious and diligent reader at the same time. Perhaps your smartest skill lies in measured estimation. Ask him about a successful game plan: “Just a total game.” What he likes to read: “Just novels, just a lot of reading.” What are your goals: “Just a better grade to play Super 300, 500 seconds.”
The dream has come true. But she could be that player who carefully doubles that win on the layup and begins to discover the next opponent. Akarshi Kashyap can turn out to be a lot of his frenzied and uninhibited bustle.
