Malaysia Masters 2026: Chaliha storms into quarters, Malvika bows out
Kuala Lumpur, May 21
India's Ashmita Chaliha continued her impressive run at the Malaysia Masters, storming into the women's singles quarterfinals with a 21-13, 21-16 win over Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei at the Stadium Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Starting from the qualifiers, Ashmita looked in complete control against the World No. 55, dominating the opening game with a comfortable win. Although Jin Wei attempted a fightback in the second game, the Indian shuttler never allowed her opponent to settle, wrapping up the contest in straight games in just 27 minutes.
With the victory, Ashmita reaches the quarterfinals of a Super 500 event for the third time in her career. She will next take on eighth-seeded Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark, who advanced after defeating two Indians, Anmol Kharb and Malvika Bansod. The rest of the Indian contingent bowed out in their respective matches.
Malvika bowed out in the second round after a loss to former European Games champion Kjaersfeldt of Denmark on Thursday. Despite winning the opening game at the Stadium Axiata Arena, World No. 51 Malvika lost 16-21, 21-8, 21-15 to the World No. 23 and eighth seed Danish shuttler. This was Olympian Kjaersfeldt's second win in three matches against Malvika.
Bansod's compatriot Devika Sihag also exited the women's singles in the second round after a 21-16, 21-13 defeat to former Olympic champion and top seed Chinese Chen Yufei.
Meanwhile, India's men's doubles campaign came to an end after MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan -- the only Indian pair at the BWF Super 500 tournament -- went down 21-14, 21-15 against Hu Keyuan and Lin Xiangyi of China.
In the mixed doubles, a duo of Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Radhika Sharma suffered a 12-21, 25-27 loss against the USA's Presley Smith and Jennie Gai.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Incredible performance from Ashmita! Goh Jin Wei is no pushover but she made it look easy. Quarterfinals of a Super 500 is impressive but we need more Indian women to reach semifinals and finals. Hope she goes all the way! 🤞🇮🇳
Malvika is talented but always falters against higher-ranked players. She needs to work on her stamina and strategy. That comeback from Kjaersfeldt showed the gap. Still, proud of all our players for giving their best. 🇮🇳🙏
What a win for Ashmita! Dominating a home player in her own backyard is not easy. Only our women's singles players showing fight. Men's doubles and mixed doubles are really struggling - need to revamp our doubles coaching setup. Hope Ashmita can upset the Dane next! 🏸💪
Good to see Ashmita progressing but our overall performance in this tournament is disappointing. Only one player left in quarters. The gap between our top players and the world's best is still big. Need more tournaments and exposure for our young shuttlers. 🏸🇮🇳
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