16-year-old Tanvi Sharma crowned world number one junior women's singles shuttler

New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): Sixteen-year-old badminton star Tanvi Sharma has done India proud, as she was announced as the new world number one junior women's singles player on Tuesday.

The official X handle of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) posted, "At just 16, Teen Titan Tanvi Sharma is the new World No. 1 Junior Women's Single Player. What a fantastic few weeks it has been for Tanvi! #Badminton #TanviSharma #TeenTitan #IndiaRising #IndianSports."

In the women's singles at the recently concluded US Open, 16-year-old Tanvi surprised everyone with a strong performance throughout the tournament. She defeated players ranked World No. 23, 40, 50, and 58 to reach the final.

She lost to top seed Beiwen Zhang of the USA in a hard-fought match (21-11, 16-21, 21-10), Tanvi made history by becoming the youngest Indian to reach a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour final.

Earlier, speaking to ANI about her performance in the US Open, Tanvi said, "It was a good tournament for me. I didn't expect to play in the finals. Because my starting round was 32, the first round itself was a tough match. I just expected to give my best. Whatever I was doing, I wanted to play well. I managed to win."

She also talked about her earlier matches, where she beat Vietnam's T L Nguyen (21-19, 21-9) in the Round of 32, Thailand's Opatniputh Pitchamon (21-18, 21-16) in the Round of 16, and Malaysia's L. Karupathevan (21-13, 21-16) in the quarterfinals.

"First round with the Vietnam girl. She was very experienced. In the second round, I played with Opatniputh Pitchamon. She was a former world junior champion. She was also very experienced. I managed to win. In the quarterfinals, I played with a Malaysian girl. She was also very good. I played my best and I won," she said.

Tanvi said her toughest matches were the first two rounds. "I think the toughest match was the first (Round of 32) and second round (Round of 16). I thought both were tough because both were top-class players. I got a good experience by playing here. I just want to gain this experience. I want to play like this in the next tournaments," she added.

Looking ahead, Tanvi said she is preparing for the Asian Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships, both of which will be held in India. She also hopes to take part in higher-level tournaments in the future."I am playing the Asian Junior Championships next month. After that, there is the World Junior Championships. Both of these tournaments are in India. I will try to do well in that. I want to play well in the Super 300 and 500," she concluded. (ANI)

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