Tanvi Patri Reaches Youth Olympics Badminton Final, Assures India Historic Medal

Fifteen-year-old Tanvi Patri became the first Indian to reach the women’s singles badminton final at the Youth Olympic Games, defeating Japan’s Yuzuno Watanabe in three games in Dakar on Wednesday.

Her 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 victory over the second seed assured India its first women’s singles badminton medal at the Games. Tanvi will now face China’s Yi Xin Zhang, the recent World Junior Championships gold medallist, for the title.

Tanvi Holds Her Nerve in the Decider

The semi-final lasted 54 minutes, with Tanvi having to withstand a strong comeback after taking the opening game, according to a Badminton Association of India release.

The Indian made an encouraging start, winning the first game 21-14 to move within one game of the final. Watanabe responded emphatically, taking the second 21-11 and sending the contest into a decider.

The third game was the closest of the match. With neither player able to establish a decisive advantage, the final berth came down to the closing points. Tanvi held her nerve to edge Watanabe 21-19 and secure her place in the gold-medal match.

The victory leaves her assured of at least silver, with an opportunity to become India’s first Youth Olympic badminton singles champion.

A First for India’s Women’s Singles Players

Tanvi’s breakthrough adds a women’s singles milestone to India’s badminton record at the Youth Olympics.

HS Prannoy won boys’ singles silver at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010. Lakshya Sen also finished runner-up in Buenos Aires in 2018, while Aditya Joshi reached the boys’ singles semi-finals in 2014.

Tanvi has now taken India into a women’s singles final for the first time. Her medal is guaranteed, although its colour will be decided against a player who has already beaten her this year.

China’s Zhang Stands Between Tanvi and Gold

Zhang won the pair’s only previous meeting, in the quarter-finals of this year’s Asia Junior Championships. Tanvi lost that contest 18-21, 16-21.

The final gives the Indian another chance against the Chinese player, this time with Youth Olympic gold at stake. After surviving a tight deciding game against Watanabe, Tanvi will seek to finish her historic campaign with a victory over the reigning world junior champion.

With inputs from ANI