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After US Open run, young shuttler Tanvi eyes junior Asian success
The 16-year-old from Punjab, whose idol is PV Sindhu, is making rapid strides after adopting a more aggressive style
Though she tried her best, Tanvi Sharma could not take India beyond the quarter-finals at the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships last week at Solo, Indonesia. However, she could make a bigger impact this week as the junior world No.1 will take the court at the Manahan Indoor Sports Hall (Indonesia) as one of the favourites to win the singles title.
The 16-year-old is in excellent form. Only last month she reached the women’s singles final in the US Open, a Super 300 event, at Council Bluffs, Iowa. She beat many higher-ranked opponents to reach the final where she lost to the seasoned former top 10 player Beiwen Zhang of the US, but not before taking a game off her.
“To be honest, I did not expect to take a game off her. She is a very good player and very experienced. I just thought of giving my best,” the 16-year-old told HT.
“I was matching the pace (of my opponents) the entire week. In the final, I was a little nervous and committed unforced errors. But yeah, I played well. From my opponents, I learnt how focused they are in the game, how they manage their schedule. I also learnt a lot from Beiwen’s quality of strokes.”
This wasn’t Tanvi’s first final of the year though, having won the Denmark Challenge in May defeating many higher ranked opponents. Last year too, she reached the Odisha Masters final and won the Bonn International title.
Her gradual progress has helped rise to world No.51 in the seniors – she touched a career best No.50 on June 30. It is a remarkable achievement as she was not even in the top 100 at the start of the year.
Tanvi, who took up badminton at the age of five, has made big strides because of the changes brought about in her game. She trained at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad from 2016 till 2021 before returning home to Hoshiarpur during Covid-19. Tanvi’s mother Meena sent her to the new Badminton Association of India (BAI) National Centre of Excellence at Guwahati in 2024.
Apart from having elder sister Radhika in Guwahati, an important reason for Tanvi’s shift to Assam was the presence of South Korean coach Park Tae-sang, who coached PV Sindhu from 2019 to 2023 and guided her to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics bronze.
“Park introduced many changes. I have started playing a more attacking game now. Earlier, I used to play a normal retrieving game. I have also improved my deceptive and net game. Earlier, I was good in defence, but the coach has changed my attacking game. Now, I’m more aggressive,” Tanvi said.
“My smashes and deceptive drop shots have really improved, they have become an advantage for me. Earlier, I used to get nervous during a match. Now, I don’t. I am slowly getting better in everything.”
Though still early days many, including seasoned commentator Gill Clark, have compared Tanvi’s game to her idol Sindhu’s.
Tanvi’s dream came true when both were in the Indian women’s team that won the Asia Team Championships in February 2024.
“I love Sindhu didi’s aggression on court and attacking game. During the Asian Team Championships, I stuck around her, watched her matches, observed how she prepared and all that. It was a very good experience for me. She told me I was doing well and to just continue doing it.”
Apart from the junior Asian title, Park has set a target for Tanvi, reaching the top 25 at senior level as she will continue to play both the junior and senior events. “The junior Worlds is also important for him and me. We are focusing on that too.”
Tanvi, seeded second, has a first round bye at the Junior Asian Championships.
