Ranked world no 132 in the world, Indian teenager Tanvi Patri stunned two top 100 players on consecutive days to win the Pontianak International Challenge in Indonesia on Sunday.
Yesterday in the semifinal, Tanvi knocked out top seed and world no 51 Rachel Chan of Canada defeating her 21-9, 21-19 in the straight. In the final today, she dominated world no 82 Kim Min Sun of South Korea.
The Indian shuttler won 21-5, 21-6 in just 32 minutes. This is first title of the season for Tanvi who has finished runner up at the Antica Singapore Challenge last week.
One of the highest rated teenagers in India, Tanvi spent her formative years training in China.
PPBA coach Sagar Chopda said that Tanvi’s strong technical base was evident from the outset. “She has trained in China, so she is technically very strong -everything, from her movement to court coverage to the sense of when to play a stroke. There are some shuttles which we, as coaches, think she won’t reach, but she gets under them. This is something very rare in a 13-year-old,” he told The Indian Express in an interview.
Panda Sisters win in Lagos
At Lagos International Challenge, Indian women’s doubles pair Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda defeated compatriots and top seed Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi to win their first title of the season.
The Panda sisters won the all Indian affair 21-14, 25-23 in 45 minutes defeating the higher ranked Indian pair who recently played at the World Championships in New Delhi.
Similarly to the women’s doubles, the men’s singles and mixed doubles were also all Indian finals. Gnana Dattu defeated Hmar Lalthazuala in the final 21-9, 22-20 to win his first international title of the season.
In the mixed doubles, Sathwik Reddy and Radhika Sharma retired in the third game of the final as Dhruv Rawat and Manisha K lifted the title. Dhruv and Manisha were leading 16-11 in the decider when the other Indian pair retired.