US Open: Malvika Bansod shocks Kristy Gilmour to enter semifinals

India’s Malvika Bansod stunned Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour in a thrilling three-game match to advance to the women’s singles semifinals of the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament here.

The 22-year-old from Nagpur, ranked 49th, registered a 10-21 21-15 21-10 win over Kristy, a 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist.

Malvika had defeated Kristy at the Hylo Open in 2022 when the Scot shuttler had retired in the second game due to an injury. The Indian had lost twice to Kristy in the past.

The Indian, who had won the Azerbaijan International challenge this year, will face sixth seeded Japanese Natsuki Nidaira next.

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In men’s singles, Priyanshu Rajawat produced a good show but couldn’t get past fourth seed Lei Lan Xi of China, losing 21-15 11-21 18-21 in a quarterfinal match that lasted just over an hour.

Second seed Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 17-21 21-17 19-21 to Japanese sixth seed Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato to also end their campaign in the last eight round.