Tanvi’s run ends with a silver at World Junior Championship

Indian shuttler Tanvi Sharma’s bid to script history by winning a gold medal at the BWF World Junior Championships ended in heartbreak as she lost in straight games to Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak in the women’s singles final here on Sunday.

The 16-year-old, who followed in the footsteps of former world No.1 Saina Nehwal and Aparna Popat to become only the third Indian female shuttler to reach the final of the tournament, lost 7-15 12-15 to the second-seeded Thai.

Tanvi thus signed off with a silver medal — India’s first at the World Junior Championships in 17 years.

Saina (gold in 2008 and silver in 2006) and Aparna (silver in 1996) are the only other Indian women to have won medals at the event.

It was a tight affair right from the start as both players moved neck and neck from 2-2 to 4-4, riding on each other’s unforced errors.

The Thai’s deceptive returns caught Tanvi at the front court as Phichitpreechasak opened up a 10-5 lead, with the Indian finding the net twice.

Two smashes from the Thai and a wide shot from Tanvi put Phichitpreechasak two points away from taking the opening game, which she eventually sealed when another backhand from the Indian buried into the net.

After the change of ends, Tanvi surged to a 6-1 lead with some precise deep returns. But errors crept in again. Two net mistakes allowed the Thai to narrow the gap to 5-7.

Phichitpreechasak went wide next, giving Tanvi a slender 8-5 lead at the interval. However, the Thai made Tanvi lunge forward repeatedly, forcing more errors to move to 7-8 before levelling the score when Tanvi sprayed one long.

Another smash into the net gave Thailand player 9-8 advantage. A down-the-line smash followed by another beautifully constructed point saw the Thai inch ahead 11-8.

Now dictating the rallies with confidence, Phichitpreechasak extended her lead to 12-8 with a lucky net cord. Tanvi managed to halt the run with a neat net dribble, but the Thai continued to produce sharp cross-court winners that left the Indian searching for answers.

At 9-13, Tanvi responded with her own deft touch to stay in contention. She won a disputed point after a long rally before sending one wide to hand the Thai three championship points.

Phichitpreechasak hit one wide but sealed the title moments later with a powerful smash.