Silver lining for Tanvi Sharma after golden run at World Junior Championships | Badminton News – The Times of India

After playing a crucial role in helping India win a historic bronze in the team event of the BWF World Junior Championships, Tanvi Sharma gave her all to reach the girls’ singles final in Guwahati.With gold in sight, the 16-year-old ultimately fell short, having to beat Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak 7-15, 12-15 in the top match at the National Center of Excellence on Sunday.“I am very happy with the silver medal but a little disappointed that I didn’t get the gold. I played very well and was confident in the final too but it didn’t happen,” Tanvi told TOI after the match.Despite the heartbreak, she became only the fifth Indian to achieve silver in the competition, after Aparna Popat (1996), Saina Nehwal (2006), Siril Verma (2015) and Sankar Muthuswamy (2022).Anyapat, who had defeated Tanvi in ​​the semi-finals of the 2023 Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships, did not let the Indian settle this time and won the first match in just nine minutes. In the second, Tanvi led 6-1 and 8-5 at half-time, but a series of errors and increasing pressure saw the Thai opponent take control again.“I was in a comfortable position, but suddenly started making mistakes. I also became nervous because of the large stadium and the audience,” said Tanvi, who has now been training at the NVU for a year.Her coach Park Taesang kept pushing her to play long rallies, but the momentum had already changed. “He told me to play my game and stay in the rallies to score points. There are days when I make these mistakes, so I have to work on that – especially my net play and endurance,” she said.However, Tanvi’s performance over the past week has been a huge positive for the Indian junior badminton setup. Her poise, movement and shot selection during the event impressed coaches and selectors alike, marking her as one of the most promising shuttlers to emerge from the new National Center of Excellence programme.Having already shown that she is capable of handling the pressure on the world stage, the teenager now wants to break into the senior circuit. “This result gives me confidence that I can compete at the next level,” said Tanvi. “I will continue to improve and work on consistency so that I can also do well in the senior tournaments.”

Tanvi thanked her mother Meena and coach Park for their continued support. “My coach was very happy after the semi-final and asked me to just play my game in the final without thinking about the result. My mother has always guided me and travels with me everywhere,” she added.As for the boys’ singles final, China’s Liu Yang Ming Yu defeated top seed Mohd Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia 15-10, 15-11 to clinch the title. China’s Tan Ke Xuan and Wei Yue Yue took the girls’ doubles crown, while Korea’s Lee Hyeong Woo and Cheon Hye In won the mixed doubles title.