Malvika wins RSL Lithuanian International crown

KAUNAS (Lithuania), Jun 14: India’s Malvika Bansod defeated Rachael Darragh of Ireland in straight games to clinch the women’s singles crown at the RSL Lithuanian International badminton tournament here.

The third seeded Indian got the better of fourth seed Darragh 21-14 21-11 in the summit clash on Sunday night that lasted just 29 minutes.

Malvika, who reached the quarterfinals of the Austrian Open last month, had earlier defeated France’s Anna Tatranova 21-13 21-10 to enter the women’s singles final.

En route to her title triumph here, the 19-year-old Malvika had defeated local player Vilte Paulauskaite 21-6 21-10 in the opening round, before crushing Heli Neiman of Israel 21-10, 21-11.

She then saw off Austrian Katrin Neudolt 21-12 21-9 in the quarterfinals.  (PTI)