Tanvi Patri becomes first Indian woman to reach Youth Olympics badminton final
The 15-year-old from Odisha will face China's Zhang Yixin.
Tanvi Patri has made history by becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the badminton final at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal. She defeated Japan's Watanabe Yuzuno in the semi-final.
Key takeaways
- Tanvi Patri reached the Youth Olympic Games badminton final, the first Indian woman to do so.
- She beat Japan's Watanabe Yuzuno 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in the women's singles semi-final.
- She will face China's Zhang Yixin in the final.
- Only HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Aditya Joshi had previously reached Youth Olympics badminton semifinals for India.
- Tanvi trains at the Centre for Excellence in Bengaluru and is from Odisha.
Tanvi Patri has become the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the badminton final at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal. RevSportz reported that she secured her place by beating Japan's Watanabe Yuzuno in a three-game semi-final, winning 21-14, 11-21, 21-19.
Match details
Tanvi won the opening game 21-14, using the drift intelligently and maintaining consistency from both ends of the court. Watanabe levelled the match by taking the second game 21-11 after Tanvi made unforced errors and misjudged shots against the drift.
In the decider, neither shuttler gave an inch. Tanvi struggled with the drift in the second half, with several shots sailing beyond the baseline, but she used cross-court placements to unsettle Watanabe. The rally at 18-17 highlighted her ability to create openings with precise cross-court smashes.
Tanvi held her nerve through the final two points and sealed the contest with a decisive smash.
Historic context
NDTV Sports said Tanvi is the first Indian woman to reach the badminton semifinals at the Youth Olympics. Only three Indian shuttlers had previously reached the badminton semifinals at the Youth Olympics: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Aditya Joshi.
Prannoy won silver at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010, while Lakshya finished runner-up at the 2018 Games in Buenos Aires. Aditya reached the boys' singles semifinals in 2014 but returned without a medal.
Background
Tanvi is a 15-year-old from Odisha who trains at the Centre for Excellence in Bengaluru.
She had earlier won the girls' singles U-17 title at the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Championships in Chengdu, China, in an all-Indian final, becoming the first Indian to win both the continental U-15 and U-17 titles.
Earlier at Dakar, she topped Women's Singles Group F with a third successive win in the preliminary stage, defeating Australia's Smrithi Adepu 21-4, 21-12 in her last league match.
Both Tanvi and Smrithi had won their respective group matches against Jeong Yu Jang of South Korea and Sara Patricia Delgado Gonzallex of Mexico. Tanvi then beat Smrithi in straight games in the winner-takes-all clash to top Group F and qualify for the quarterfinals.
Competition format
The badminton competition at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games features men's and women's singles events, with 32 players competing in each category. The competition is played across two stages: Group Stage followed by Knockouts. The players were divided into eight groups of four, with each player facing the other three players in their group. The group winner from each group advanced to the knockout stage.
Previous meeting and what happens next
Tanvi and Watanabe had met at the 2024 Pathum Thani Junior International Series in Thailand, where Tanvi suffered a 14-21, 10-21 defeat. Tanvi will now face China's Zhang Yixin in the Youth Olympic Games badminton final, with a historic gold medal within reach.
Semi-final result and previous Indian Youth Olympics badminton semifinalists
Player | Result | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
Tanvi Patri | Won | Watanabe Yuzuno | 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 |
HS Prannoy | Silver | Singapore 2010 | Inaugural edition |
Lakshya Sen | Runner-up | Buenos Aires 2018 | 2018 Games |
Aditya Joshi | Semifinalist | 2014 | No medal |
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