Tanvi Sharma became the first Indian female shuttler to win a medal in the Badminton Junior World Championship in 17 years. Tanvi settled for a silver after losing the final to Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak.
Tanvi Sharma’s brilliant run at the BWF World Junior Championships ended with a silver medal after she suffered a loss to Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak in the women’s singles final on Sunday.
Sharma, who had become the first Indian female to secure a medalย at the Worlds, lost the showdown clash to the second-seed Phichitpreechasak 7-15,12-15.ย
Sharma did not look at her best in the final as she made errors. She came into the final after a brilliant performance against China’s Liu Si Ya in the semifinal, which she won 15-11, 15-9; however, the errors cost her big in the gold medal match.
The youngster admitted the same after the match. “I was not comfortable. From the start of the match, I made a lot of mistakes. In the second game, I did manage to play my strokes, but once again I ended up making mistakes after 8-5. After that, my coach told me to keep playing, and I did that. But she was reading my strokes very well,” said Tanvi after the match.
Tanvi has become just the third Indian woman and fifth Indian overall to win a medal at the Junior Worlds. Before her silver, Saina (gold in 2008 and silver in 2006) and Aparna (silver in 1996) were the only two Indian women players to have clinched a medal. Tanvi has ended a 17-year wait for a female medallist at the junior event.