The 14-year-old fought hard to grab a 24-22, 24-22 win over Malavika in a nail-biting 50-minute semifinal clash at the Jawahar Lal Nehru indoor stadium.
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Teenager Unnati Hooda produced a stunning performance to upset in-form shuttler Malavika Bansod in straight games and storm into the women’s singles final of the 2022 Odisha Open here on Saturday. The 14-year-old fought hard to grab a 24-22 24-22 win over Malavika in a nail-biting 50-minute semifinal clash at the Jawahar Lal Nehru indoor stadium. Malavika came into the tournament on the back of some impressive performances, having defeated Saina Nehwal at the India Open earlier this month before losing to PV Sindhu in the final of the Syed Modi international tournament last week.
#OdishaOpen2022 – WS Semifinals
Unnati Hooda takes down Malvika Bansod in a thrilling contest to advance into the finals of the WS event! Quite the upset here in Cuttack!
24-22 24-22@sports_odisha @BAI_Media @mydalm#OdishaOpenSuper100 #IndianBadminton pic.twitter.com/29td1eCCqG
— OdishaOpen2022 (@OdishaOpen100) January 29, 2022
Malavika had defeated junior world No. 1 Tasnim Mir in the pre-quarterfinals before going on to beat Tanya Hemant in the last 8 stage. Meanwhile Unnati’s victory against Malavika would be a huge confidence boost for the teenager, who is ranked 418th in the world.
In the other women’s singles semifinal, world No. 163 Smit Toshinwal upset fifth seed Ashmita Chaliha 21-19, 10-21, 21-17 in one hour to set up a title decider with Unnati. Ashmita overcame compatriot Anupama Upadhyay 21-17, 21-16 in the pre-quarterfinals before defeating Rucha Sawant for a place in the last four.
The mixed doubles duo of MR Arjun and Treesa Jolly also advanced to the final with an easy 21-9, 21-9 win over compatriot 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 Kathiravan and Kuhan Balashri, 21-8, 21-17 in little less than half an hour.
