Malvika Bansod beats Kristy Gilmour to enter China Open quarterfinals

Young Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod continued her fine form as she cruised to her maiden Super 1000 quarterfinal after eking out a hard-fought victory against higher-ranked Kristy Gilmour in China Open here on Thursday.

Malvika, ranked 43rd, toiled hard for one hour and five minutes before pulling off a 21-17 19-21 21-16 win over two-time Commonwealth Games medallist and world number 25 from Scotland in a women's singles round-of-16 contest. "This is first time I will play a quarterfinal of a Super 1000 tournament so it is a dream come true and biggest achievement of my life so far," Malvika said after match.

"I dreamt about this before tournament that how would it be if I reached quarters and now I'm top 8, so it's a great feeling," she ded.

Talking about match, Indian, who now les he-to-he against Gilmour 3-2, said "re is a lot of drift from this part so I found it difficult to control in last parts of last game and second game as well. But I'm gl god helped me." win comes a day after 22-year-old defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.

Nagpur shuttler feels she has been able to control shuttle in tricky conditions here.

"My retrieving is working well, I am able to control shuttle better than ors. conditions are a bit tricky for both players but I'm able to handle it better," she said.

She ded that she has focused on enhancing her strength, and it is yielding positive results.

"This circuit is very tough because if you are entering a Super 500 or 1000 you end up playing a top 10 in first round as I'm not seeded yet. So, I need to be physically strong from beginning itself. I have been working on that." However Malvika, who is lone Indian shuttler remaining in competition, has a tough challenge ahe of her as she will be up against fourth seed and two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in last eight stage.

Although Japanese shuttler has won both outings against Malvika, Indian h come close to defeating Yamaguchi and hopes she can cross line this time round.

"Hope for best. I am in good form let's see how it goes tomorrow. I will give my best," she said.