Unnati Hooda stuns Malvika Bansod to set up title clash against Smit; Kiran faces Priyanshu in Odisha Open final

Malvika Bansod’s dreams of playing a second successive final was shattered by Unnati Hooda at the Odisha Open BWF World Tour Super 100 tournament on Saturday.

Unnati Hooda came up with a stunning upset with a hard-fought 24-22, 24-22 victory against Malvika to enter the women’s singles final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

Malvika, 20-year-old, who finished runners-up at the last week’s Syed Modi tournament in Lucknow, was the hot favorite to reach her second straight final.

However, 14-year-old Unnati had other ideas. The promising Haryana shuttler surprised Malvika Bansod with an inspiring display to reach the second final of the season.

Late last year at the Infosys Foundation International Challenge tournament in Bengaluru, Unnati did well to enter the final where she was beaten by Anupama Upadhyaya.

The penultimate day’s play of the Odisha Open was full of surprises and underdogs hogged the limelight. Unnati did no harm to her growing reputation by halting Malvika's dream run in an exciting women’s singles semifinal that lasted 50 minutes.

Unnati saved three game points against Malvika in the second game

The first match of the day between Unnati and Malvika was one of the most interesting ones of the day and that set the tone for the rest of the action. Both Unnati and Malvika fought gallantly for each and every point. There was hardly anything to choose between them.

Both the games were extended ones and only a couple of points decided the winner and loser of the tie.

In the first game, Unnati managed to convert her third game point to seal it 24-22. The Haryana girl, who is ranked 418 in the world, got slightly lucky in the second game. Southpaw Malvika had three game points but she squandered them which ended up proving costly for her.

Malvika has been in good nick recently, having shocked her idol Saina Nehwal at the Indian Open earlier this month before losing to PV Sindhu in the final last week.

Malvika also downed junior world No. 1 Tasnim Mir in the pre-quarterfinals in Cuttack on Thursday.

Smit Toshniwal shocks fifth seed Ashmita Chaliha

The second semifinal of the women’s singles also witnessed a surprising result. World No. 163 Smit Toshniwal shocked fifth seed and higher-ranked Ashmita Chaliha 21-19, 10-21, 21-17 in 61 minutes.

World No. 163 Smit perhaps played one of the best matches of her career to get the better of Assam shuttler Ashmita.

Ashmita, who is ranked 69 in the world, was expected to reach the final as she is perceived to be more experienced and skillful. However, the 20-year-old Smit rose to the occasion to storm into her maiden World Tour 100 tournament final.

Priyanshu Rajawat faces Kiran George for men’s singles crown

Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George registered contrasting wins over their respective semi-final opponents to seal their berths in the final.

Priyanshu thumped Maharashtra southpaw Kaushal Dharmamer 21-17, 21-14 in 35 minutes.

However, Kiran George had to stretch fully to overcome a stiff challenge from Ansal Yadav. Kerala youngster Kiran rallied back to down Ansal Yadav 19-21, 21-12, 21-14 in a grueling 53-minute encounter.

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. The Sri Lankan duo downed Indian pair Mauryan Kathiravan and Kuhan Balashri, 21-8, 21-17.

The women’s doubles summit clash will be played between eighth seed Sanyogita Ghorpade-Shruti Mishra and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, who are fifth seeds. All the finals will be played on Sunday. The first of the five finals, mixed doubles, will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Results (Semifinals)

Men’s singles

Priyanshu Rajawat bt Kaushal Dharmamer 21-17, 21-14 (35 minutes)

Kiran George bt Ansal Yadav 19-21, 21-12, 21-14 (53 minutes)

Women’s singles

Smit Toshniwal bt 5-Ashmita Chaliha 21-19, 10-21, 21-17 (61 minutes)

Unnati Hooda bt Malvika Bansod 24-22, 24-22 (50 minutes)

Men’s doubles

Ravikrishna PS-Sankar Prasad U bt Vasantha Kumar HR-Ashith Surya 21-12, 18-21, 21-18 (53 minutes)

Women’s doubles

5-Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela bt Arul Bala R-Nila Valluvan 21-9, 21-6 (22 minutes)

8-Sanyogita Ghorpade-Shruti Mishra bt Srivedya Gurazada-Ishika Jaiswal 10-21, 21-18, 21-17 (43 minutes)

Mixed doubles

MR Arjun-Treesa Jolly bt Balkeshari Yadav-Swetaparna Panda 21-9, 21-9 (20 minutes)

Mauryan Kathiravan-Kuhan Balashri lost to Sachin Dias-Thilini Hendahewa (Sri Lanka) 8-21, 17-21 (27 minutes)

Final line-up

Mixed doubles

MR Arjun-Treesa Jolly vs Sachin Dias-Thilini Hendahewa (Sri Lanka)

Women’s singles

Smit Toshniwal vs Unnati Hooda

Men’s singles

Priyanshu Rajawat vs Kiran George

Women’s doubles

8-Sanyogita Ghorpade-Shruti Mishra vs 5-Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela

Men’s doubles

Ravikrishna PS-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar vs Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn-Lim Khim Wah (Malaysia).