Saarbrucken [Germany], October 30 : Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod advanced into the second round of the ongoing Hylo Open 2024 after defeating Bulgaria's Hristomira Popovska in the first round on Tuesday.
Up against Popovska in the opening round of the women's singles event at the BWF Super 300 tournament, Malvika Bansod, 34th in the world badminton rankings, eased past her opponent by a 21-6, 21-17 scoreline.
The Indian badminton player ran away with the first game before world No. 109 Popovska mounted some resistance in the second game played on the badminton courts of the Saarlandhalle indoor arena.
Last year's quarter-finalist Malvika Bansod, seeded sixth in the tournament, will face Denmark's Irina Amalie Andersen in the round of 16 next.
Malvika's compatriot Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj also set herself up for a second-round women's singles clash against a Dane, eighth seed Julie Dawall Jakobsen, after defeating Chinese Taipei's Yu Chien Hui 21-13, 21-19 in just over 30 minutes.
Keyura Mopati, meanwhile, advanced to the women's singles main draw with a 21-15, 21-15 win over local player Miranda Wilson in the qualifiers.
India's Priya Konjengbam/Shruti Mishra will be in action against women's doubles sixth seeds Natasja P Anthonisen/Maiken Fruergaard.
World No. 44 Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, seeded seventh in men's singles, will play on Wednesday.
Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist Lakshya Sen was the last Indian to win a title at the Hylo Open, clinching the men's singles crown in 2019 when it used to be a BWF Super 100 tournament. Subhankar Dey, another Indian shuttler, also won the men's crown the preceding year, when it was called the SaarLorLux Open.
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