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Kuala Lumpur. India’s Malvika Bansod bowed out of the second round of the Malaysia Masters 2026 badminton tournament after losing to former European Games champion Line Kjaersfelt of Denmark in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Despite winning the first game at the Stadium Axiata Arena, Malvika Bansod, ranked 51st in the women’s singles badminton rankings, lost to world number 23 and eighth seed Danish shuttler 16-21, 21-8, 21-15.

But, Ashmita Chaliha kept India’s women’s singles challenge alive by defeating Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei – a two-time junior world champion and 2018 Youth Olympics gold medalist – 21-13, 21-16. Malvika Bansod took the lead early in the first game; By the interval they took a lead of 11-6 and maintaining the same rhythm, they strengthened their hold on the match by winning the first game easily.

However, the mood of the match changed in the second game. Line Kjaersfelt took complete control of the match by winning the first eight points, taking the match to a deciding game. In the deciding game, Malvika Bansod was leading 11-8 till the interval, but after this, Line Kjaersfelt turned the tables against the Indian badminton player and won the match and made it to the third round.

This was Olympian Line Kjaersfelt’s second win in three matches against Malvika Bansod. Bansod’s compatriot Devika Sihag also crashed out of the second round of women’s singles. She suffered a 21-16, 21-13 defeat at the hands of former Olympic champion and top seed, Chen Yufei of the People’s Republic of China. Meanwhile, India’s men’s doubles campaign came to an end when M.R. Arjun and Hariharan Amaskarunan – who were the only Indian pair in the BWF Super 500 tournament – lost to China’s Hu Keyuan and Lin Xiangyi 21-14, 21-15.

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