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Tanvi Patri, 15, becomes first Indian woman in Youth Olympic badminton final
A three-game comeback over Japan's second seed guarantees India its first women's singles medal in the sport at the Youth Olympic Games.
Fifteen-year-old Tanvi Patri has made Indian badminton history. On Wednesday she beat Japan's second seed, Yuzuno Watanabe, 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in the Youth Olympic Games semi-final, becoming the first Indian woman to reach the women's singles final. The win also locks in India's first medal in the discipline at the event.
The match ran 54 minutes and swung like a pendulum. Tanvi grabbed the opener 21-14 and looked in control. Watanabe then hit back hard, taking the second game 21-11 and forcing a decider.
That final game was a nerve-tester. Neither player gave an inch, and every rally mattered with a final place at stake. Tanvi kept her cool when it counted and closed it out 21-19.
Why does it matter? India has done well in boys' singles at this event before. HS Prannoy won silver at the first Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, and Lakshya Sen took silver in Buenos Aires in 2018. Aditya Joshi also reached the boys' semi-finals in 2014. No Indian girl had gone this far until now.
Next comes the toughest test: China's Yi Xin Zhang, who recently won gold at the World Junior Championships. The pair have met once, in the quarter-finals of this year's Asia Junior Championships, where Zhang won 21-18, 21-16.
So the final offers Tanvi a rematch on a far bigger stage. Silver is already secure. Gold would turn a landmark run into a historic one.
