-Badminton Asia Championships-Malvika Bansod, Panda sisters enter main draw

NEW DELHI: Rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod won both her matches to qualify for women’s singles main draw of the Badminton Asia Championships on Tuesday.

She first defeated Nurani Ratu Azzahra of UAE 21-18, 21-10 and then outclassed Sofiya Zakirova of Uzbekistan 21-4, 21-5 to win both her group B qualifying matches.

The 22-year-old world ranked 50 will face South Korea’s Sim Yu Jin in her round of 32 match on Wednesday.

The Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — also won both their doubles group A qualifying matches to make the main draw where they will take on Chinese Shu Xian Zhang and Yu Zheng.

Rutaparna and Swetaparna thrashed Bangladeshi pair Urmi Akter/Nasima Khatun 21-6, 21-6 before overwhelming Weng Chi NG and Pui Chi Wa of Macau 21-18, 21-16.

Another women’s doubles pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker, mixed doubles duo Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Aadya Variyath and the men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan-Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi also booked their spots in the main draw. Agencies

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