Malvika Bansod finishes second in Italian International 2022

Mumbai, June 6: India's Malvika Bansod finished runner-up in the Italian International 2022, losing to Wen-Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei in straight games in the final played at Palabadminton, in Milan, Italy.

Malvika, who was given the top billing in the event, could not live up to her seeding as she lost to the Chinese Taipei shuttler in a one-sided encounter in just 27 minutes. This was Malvika's second loss to Wen-Chi Hsu in her career so far, after losing 16-21, 12-21 at the Wales International tournament last year.

Malvika, who is ranked 53 in the BWF Rankings, got the better of Insyirah Khan 11-21, 26-23, 21-13 and had beaten compatriot Tanya Hemanth in the quarterfinals, coming back after losing the first game to win 12-21. 21-16, 21-15 in just over one hour.

The 20-year-old from Nagpur started the event with a 21-12, 21-16 win against Talia Ng of Canada in Round of 32. In the second round, she got the better of Pitchamon Opatniputh of Thailand 21-10, 10-21, 21-16.