It was a day of contrasting emotions for India’s rising badminton stars at the Thailand Open, as Anmol Kharb suffered a crushing collapse while Malvika Bansod battled through a dramatic survival test to reach the second round.
Separated by only two places in the world rankings, both players arrived in Thailand carrying the weight of difficult seasons and fading confidence. By the end of the day, however, their journeys had taken very different turns.
World No.48 Kharb came agonisingly close to producing the biggest win of her career against former Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei. The 19-year-old Indian dominated large parts of the deciding game and led 11-2 at the interval, with the world No.4 struggling badly in the conditions.
But as the finish line approached, Kharb’s game unravelled under pressure. A string of unforced errors allowed Chen to claw her way back before the Chinese star escaped with victory.
The defeat extended a painful run of disappointing results for Kharb, who admitted confidence has become a major challenge after repeated first-round exits over the past year. She reflected on her inability to close out tight matches, admitting she often becomes too aggressive at crucial moments instead of playing safe.
Despite the loss, Chen praised the Indian youngster’s quality and patience, suggesting the difficult court drift may have contributed to the momentum shift late in the match.
While Kharb was left devastated, world No.50 Bansod produced one of the grittiest wins of her comeback journey.
Still recovering from the emotional and physical toll of ACL surgery following her injury at last year’s Indonesia Open, Bansod survived a thrilling three-game battle against Zhang Wen Yu after saving four match points.
The Indian admitted confidence remains fragile even now, explaining how emotions, crowd energy, drift conditions and momentum swings constantly affect a player’s belief during matches.
Bansod revealed the recovery process after surgery had been emotionally exhausting, especially while comparing her current movement to the level she enjoyed before the injury. Yet she said the difficult rebuilding phase has slowly helped her regain belief in herself.
Her reward is another huge challenge — a second-round meeting with none other than Chen Yu Fei, the same player who denied Kharb just hours earlier.
Photo: BWF/Badmintonphoto@Badmintonphoto
