Teenager Unnati Hooda produced a stunning performance to take down in-form shuttler Malvika Bansod in straight games and cruise to the women’s 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 women’s 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.
In the men’s singles semi-finals, Priyanshu Rajawat registered a straight games win over Kaushal Dharmamer.
Priyanshu, who won last year’s Ukraine International, cruised to a 21-17, 21-14 win. In the final, he will take on Kiran George, who defeated Ansal Yadav 19-21, 21-12, 21-14 in the other semis match.
The women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand defeated Arul Bala Radhakrishnan and Nila Valluvan 21-9, 21-6 to set up a title clash against Sanyogita Ghorpade and Shruti Mishra.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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