Asian School Badminton: Will Malvika cross the hurdles?

The 7th Asian School Badminton Championship, started today at the Indoor Stadium of Divisional Sports Complex, Mankapur, Nagpur; being organized by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has the participation of six different Asian countries and the tournament has five categories including the Boy's Singles, Girl's Singles, Doubles and Mixed doubles.

Together with the host India, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong, 93 shuttlers beat up against their opponents as the participants are granted to participate in only a single event, while the Indian badminton players received a mixed draw.

In the boy's singles and girl’s singles section, the top-ranked Indian shuttler has been shortlisted third and fourth in the event, and after their adieu from the inaugural rounds, they will initiate the venture by battling in the quarterfinal stage.

Malvika Bansod is the only participant from the host city, and she will play alongside Thailand's seeded shuttler Atitaya Povanon and if both the players clear the opening round against their respective opponents, the girls will encounter each other in the next round.

While in the team championship, Atitaya has always performed well and she has also played five matches for Thailand and triumphed in all the 10 games. Malvika did crash out in the league stage, even though she registered her victory in two singles and also won four other games.

Kiran Makoda, Malvika’s coach, stated that the singles draw can be tough for the player, but she has been in a great form, and she will bring honor to the nation.

The quarterfinal match is likely to be a cup of tea for the Indian shuttler, but in the semi-finals, there will be a tough call, as she will face Atitaya. He also said that Malvika needs to put tremendous efforts with a controlled onrush and focus on winning over the Thai opponent. 

The inaugural round will bring Malvika and Cheng Sin Yan Happy Serena of Hongkong to bite the bullet. The shuttler from Telangana, M Tharun is in the bottom half of the draw along and will take on the second seed Vichayapong Kanjanakeeree Wong of Thailand initiating from the quarterfinals stage. Both the players will put efforts to crash out their opponents to reach to the semi-finals, where they can take on each other.

In the boy's doubles, the third-seeded duo Anish Chandra and Abdul Rahman will start the contest from the last eight stages. Wherein the mixed doubles, the pair of Arjun Rehani and Likhita Shrivastava will represent India.

The Seeding's -

Boys Singles: 1-Kok Jing Hong (Malaysia), 2- Vichayapong Kanjanakeeree Wong (Thailand), 4-M Tharun (India)

Girls Singles: 1-Atitaya Povanon (Thailand), 2-Myisha Mohd Khairul (Malaysia), 3-Malvika Bansod (India)

Boys Doubles: 1-Ooi Jhy Dar-Wyman Goh Wai Yap (Malaysia), 2-Termthanasak-Wongsathorn Thongkham (Thailand), 3-Anish Chandra-Abdul Rahaman (India)

Girls Doubles: 1-Suangsupa Suppasang-Wanida Buapa (Thailand), 2-Low Yeen Yan-Valeree Slow (Malaysia)

Mixed Doubles: 1-Yap Roi King-Gan Jing Err (Malaysia), 2-Kaninpong Yokard-Mesnee Loog (Thaiuland), 3-Arjun Rehani-Kihilta Shrivastav (India)