Malvika Bansod, Tanisha Crasto hope to carry selection trials’ form into Ukraine International Series

Malvika Bansod and Tanisha Crasto stole the show in the Indian team selection trials held last week in Hyderabad with their spectacular performance.

While Malvika Bansod remained unbeaten to reign supreme in the women’s singles, Tanisha Crasto excelled in the women’s doubles with Rutaparna Panda.

Thanks to their outstanding performance in the five-day selection trials, both Malvika and Tanisha were rewarded with spots in the national side for the Sudirman Cup and Uber Cup.

Malvika and Tanisha would like to carry forward their brilliant form in the Victor Ukraine International Series badminton tournament which will be held from September 7 to 10 in Kharkiv. The qualifying rounds will be played on Wednesday while the main draw matches will commence on Thursday.

Nineteen-year-old Malvika has been given the second seeding in the women’s singles draw of 32 players. Malvika must be riding high on confidence after her excellent showing in the national trials and would like to live up to her form and reputation in Ukraine.

Second seed Malvika will face Ukrainian opponents in the first round

The talented southpaw Malvika will face Anastasiia Prokopovych of Ukraine in the first round on Thursday. The India No. 2 Malvika is likely to meet her Indian counterpart Anupama Upadhyaya in the second round.

“I am delighted with the way I played in Hyderabad during the trials. My confidence is high and I am looking forward to doing well in the Ukraine tournament also. In the international tournament every match is important. I would take match by match and try to play to the best of my ability,” said Malvika.

Malvika reached Ukraine along with his father Prabodh on Monday and had a practice session later in the day at the tournament venue.

India's Ira Sharma of India has been given the fifth seeding and will lock horns with local girl Anastasiya Prozorova.

Teenage Bengaluru girl Kriti Bharadwaj will square off against eighth seed Helis Pajuste of Estonia. Another teenager, Anupama Upadhyaya, will clash with Yana Sobko of Ukraine.

Top seed in the women’s singles Ashmita Chaliha has pulled out of the tournament. Sources said she was not well and decided to skip the tourney.

Reigning national junior doubles champions Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi are fourth seeds in the women’s doubles. The Maharashtra pair will face Ukraine’s Mariia Stoliarenko and Yelyzaveta Zharka in the first round.

New combination Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela were slated to play against Polina Buhrova and Yana Sobko of Ukraine but pulled out of the tournament. The duo of Treesa and Gayatri finished third in the Indian team selection trials in Hyderabad and were picked in the national side for next month’s Uber Cup.

Chirag Sen is second seed in the men’s singles

Three Indians are in the top five seedings’ list in the men’s singles. Chirag Sen is second seed, while Mithun Manjunath and Kartikey Gulshan Kumar will be third and fifth seeds, respectively. In addition to the trio, there are five other Indians in the main draw.

Chirag Sen has been given the second seeding in the men's singles

Priyanshu Rajawat, Varun Kapur, Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, Kevin Arokia Walter and Anirudh Janardhanan would also like to make inroads into the competition.