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Fifteen-year-old Indian shuttler Tanvi Patri made history on Wednesday, becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the Youth Olympic Games final in women's singles and securing the first medal in this discipline for the country.
The young Indian produced a spirited performance to defeat Japan's second seed, Yuzuno Watanabe, 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in a thrilling three-game semi-final that lasted 54 minutes, as per a press release from the Badminton Association of India (BAI). The contest turned out to be a closely fought battle, with both players matching each other shot for shot and refusing to give away easy points. Tanvi started strongly to take the opening game 21-14, but Watanabe fought back in the second, winning it 21-11 to force the match into a decider. With a place in the final at stake, the third game saw both players go neck and neck in an intense battle. Tanvi, however, held her nerve in the crucial moments and edged past her Japanese opponent 21-19 to seal a memorable victory and book her place in the gold medal match. With this achievement, Tanvi has become the first Indian woman to reach the badminton final at the Youth Olympic Games, guaranteeing the country its first-ever women's singles medal at the event. Her run to the final marks another significant milestone for Indian badminton at the Youth Olympic Games. HS Prannoy won silver at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010, while Lakshya Sen finished runner-up in Buenos Aires in 2018. Aditya Joshi had reached the boys' singles semi-finals in 2014. Tanvi will now turn her attention to the final, where she will look to cap her historic campaign with a gold medal. The Indian will face Yi Xin Zhang of China in the final, who recently won gold at the World Junior Championships. Their only previous meeting was at the Asia Junior Championships quarterfinal this year, where Tanvi lost a close battle 18-21, 16-21. (ANI)
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