India’s rising teenage badminton star, Tanvi Sharma, made history by finishing as the runner-up at the BWF World Junior Championships in Guwahati on Sunday.
The 16-year-old top seed fell to Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak with a score of 7-15, 12-15 in a match that lasted just 28 minutes.
Tanvi etched her name in history by becoming only the third Indian woman to reach the girls’ singles final, after Saina Nehwal and Aparna Popat.
After dropping the first set 7-15, Tanvi appeared to find her rhythm and took control in the second game, holding a three-point lead at 8-5, but unforced errors and smart play from her opponent levelled the scores at 8-all.
Earlier, Tanvi had displayed exceptional performance defeating China’s Liu Si Ya 15-11, 15-9 in the semifinals.
Tanvi’s silver medal-winning run ended India’s 17-year medal drought in women’s singles at the BWF World Junior C’ships.
She wasn’t even born when Saina Nehwal won India’s last Junior World C’ships medal in women’s singles – a gold – back in 2008.
Reflecting on her performance in the final, the Indian shuttler said, “I was not comfortable. From the start of the match, I made a lot of mistakes. In the second game, I did manage to play my strokes, but once again I ended up making mistakes after 8-5. After that, my coach told me to keep playing, and I did that. But she was reading my strokes very well.”
Meanwhile, China’s Tan Ke Xuan/Wei Yue Yue clinched the girls doubles crown with a 15-13, 19-17 win over Zi Yu Low/Noraqilah Maisarah of Malaysia, while Lee Hyeong Woo and Cheon Hye In of Korea defeated Hung Bing Fu/Chou Yun An of Chinese Taipei 15-9, 11-15, 15-10 to bag the mixed doubles title.
