NAGPUR: Playing back-to-back marathon contests of over an one-hour in a day restricted the movement of Malvika Bansod in the summit clash of the Italian International challenge badminton tournament in Milan, Italy, on Sunday.
The weary-looking Malvika went down to Chinese Taipei's Wen Chi Hsu in straight games in her second final appearance in any senior international tournament. While the 20-year-old lost the final 21-9, 21-11 in 27 minutes, she brought home her second BWF international silver medal.
Earlier on Saturday, Malvika rallied from a game down to win her quarterfinal and semifinal contests. In the morning session, Malvika defeated Singapore's Insyirah Khan 11-21, 25-23, 21-13 in a one-hour, five-minute tie before she got the better of Bangalore's Tanya Hemnath 12-21, 21-16, 21-15 in the semifinal. The evening session clash lasted for one hour and eight minutes.
Malvika played both the marathon matches after a gap of seven hours before coming back on the court for the title clash on Sunday morning. She played three matches within 24 hours.
