Tanvi becomes 1st Indian female in 17 years to secure World Junior medal

Tanvi Sharma became the first Indian to secure a BWF World Junior Championships medal in 17 years when she fought back from a game down to beat Japan’s Saki Matsumoto and reach the girls singles semifinals here on Friday.

The 16-year-old kept her nerves under pressure and found winners with her cross-court slice hits to beat Matsumoto 13-15 15-9 15-10 in a 47-minute quarterfinal clash that kept the spectators on edge at the National Centre of Excellence.

However, eighth seed Unnati Hooda, the youngest Indian to win a Super 100 title at the 2022 Odisha Open and a member of India’s 2022 Uber Cup squad, bowed out after going down 12-15 13-15 to second seed Anyapat Phichitphon of Thailand in a 32-minute quarterfinal, missing out on a medal.

India’s mixed doubles pair of Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo also ended their campaign in the last-eight stage, losing 9-15 7-15 to the Chinese Taipei duo of Hung Bing Fu and Chou Yun An.

The last Indian female player to win a world junior medal was Saina Nehwal, who bagged the gold medal in the 2008 edition in Pune.

Saina, who had also won a silver medal in 2006, and Aparna Popat (1996 silver) are the only other Indian female players to stand on the podium in the history of the competition.

Top-seeded Tanvi, who had also bagged a bronze medal in the Badminton Asia Junior Championships earlier this year, began aggressively and looked like she was in control as she opened up a 10-6 lead.

But a flurry of errors allowed Matsumoto to stage a comeback as the Japanese won seven straight points to take the lead. The Indian managed to stem the run but could not avoid losing the game.

The US Open finalist was much more comfortable with her shot selection in the second game and raced to a 15-9 win.

However, errors once again pegged her back at the start of the third game and it was clear that the top seed was under pressure as the players changed ends with the Indian trailing 5-8.

Those nerves definitely settled as she clinched four straight points to take the lead at 9-8 and then used her flat tosses and cross smashes to outplay her opponent.

“It is difficult to play against Matsumoto as she slows down the game. So, I knew that I had to be aggressive. I am happy that I am assured of a medal,” said Tanvi, who will now face China’s Liu Si Ya.

The Chinese defeated Sri Lanka’s Ranithma Liyanage 15-9 15-6 in the other quarterfinal.

However, India’s hopes of another medal in girls singles were dashed when Hooda lost. She clearly struggled with her front-court movement and though the Indian fought for every point in the 32-minute battle, she was repeatedly caught off guard by Anyapat with her quick cross drops and smashes.

In the boys’ singles quarterfinals, Gnana Dattu put up a strong fight against third seed Liu Yang Ming Yu of China but his spirited effort was not enough to avoid a 15-11 15-13 loss.