Tanvi Sharma made history on Friday as she became the first Indian female shuttler in 17 years to be assured of a BWF World Junior Championships medal when she fought back from a game down to beat Japan’s Saki Matsumoto and reach the girls’ singles semifinals at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati.
However, India’s hopes of another medal in girls’ singles were dashed when eighth seed Unnati Hooda went down 12-15, 13-15 against second seed Anyapat Phichitpreechasak of Thailand.
The 16-year-old held her nerve under pressure and found winners with her cross-court slices to beat Matsumoto 13-15, 15-9, 15-10 in a sapping 47-minute quarterfinal clash that kept the spectators on edge.
The last Indian female player to win a World Junior medal was Saina Nehwal, who clinched the gold medal in the 2008 edition of the Championships in Pune. Saina also won a silver medal in 2006. Along with Aparna Popat (1996 silver), they are the only other Indian female players to have stood on the podium in the history of the competition.
Top-seeded Tanvi, who had won a bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships earlier this year, began the match aggressively and broke into a 10-6 lead. But a flurry of errors from Tanvi allowed Matsumoto to stage a comeback as the Japanese won seven straight points to claim the lead. The Indian shuttler managed to halt Matsumoto’s free run but could not avoid losing the game.
The US Open finalist was much more comfortable with her shot selection in the second game and raced through to a 15-9 win. However, errors once again pegged her back at the start of the third game, and it was clear that the top seed was under pressure as the players changed ends with the Indian trailing 5-8.
Those nerves soon settled as she clinched four straight points to take the lead at 9-8 and then used her flat tosses and cross smashes to outplay her opponent.
“It is difficult to play against Matsumoto as she slows down the game. So, I knew that I had to be aggressive. I am happy that I am assured of a medal,” said Tanvi, who will now face China’s Liu Si Ya in the semifinals. The Chinese defeated Sri Lanka’s Ranithma Liyanage 15-9, 15-6 in the other quarterfinal clash.
Unnati, Gnana fall short
In the other girls’ singles quarterfinal clash, Unnati clearly struggled with her front-court movement, and though the Indian fought for every point in the 32-minute battle, she was repeatedly caught by Anyapat’s quick cross drops and smashes.
In the boys’ singles quarterfinals, Gnana Dattu put up a strong fight against third seed Liu Yang Ming Yu of China, but his spirited effort was not enough to avoid a 15-11, 15-13 loss.
The mixed doubles combination of Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo also fell short in the quarterfinals, losing to Chinese Taipei’s Hung Bing Fu and Chou Yun An 15-9, 15-7.
Quarterfinals Results:
Boys singles:
1-Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah (Indonesia) bt Zi Sheng Wu (China) 15-6, 17-15 (saved 2 gp); Li Zhi Hang (China) bt Chung Ching Cyrus (Hong Kong) 15-4, 15-7; 3-Liu Yang Ming Yu (China) bt Gnana Dattu TT (India) 15-11, 15-13; 2-Richie Duta Richardo (Indonesia) bt Ayu Fu Sheng (Malaysia) 15-9, 15-9
Girls Singles:
1-Tanvi Sharma (India) bt Saki Matsumoto (Japan) 13-15, 15-9, 15-10; Liu Si Ya (China) bt 4-Ranithma Liyanage (Sri Lanka) 15-9, 15-6; 6-Yataweemin Ketklieng (Thailand) bt Yuzuno Watanabe (Japan) 15-3, 15-12; 2-Anyapat Phichitpreechasak (Thailand) bt 8-Unnati Hooda (India) 15-12, 15-13
Mixed Doubles:
1-Loh Ziheng/Noraqilah Maisarah (Malaysia) bt 9-Ikhsan Pramudya/Rinjani Nastine (Indonesia) 15-10, 15-8; Hung Bing Fu/Chou Yun An (Chinese Taipei) bt 14-Bhavya Chhabra/Vishakha Toppo (India) 15-9, 15-7; 4-Chen Jun Ting/Cao Zi Han (China) bt 8-Shuji Sawada/Aoi Banno (Japan) 15-3, 15-10; 2-Lee Hyeong Woo/Cheon Hye In (Korea) bt 5-Tan Zhi Yang/Nicole Tan (Malaysia) 17-15, 14-16, 15-6