On Wednesday, 15-year-old Tanvi Patri beat Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe to reach the Youth Olympics final. She is now set to become the third Indian badminton player to win a medal at the event. Patri will face China’s Zhang Yu Xin on Thursday, aiming to secure the country's first singles gold medal.
On Wednesday, the 15-year-old from Odisha beat Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 to reach the final. She is thus set to become only the third Indian badminton player to win a medal at the Youth Olympics, with HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen winning silver in the men’s singles event at the 2010 and 2018 editions in Singapore and Buenos Aires respectively.
However, she will have the opportunity to become the first from the country to win the singles gold when she takes on China’s Zhang Yu Xin in the final.
The Indian youngster is already well-versed with China’s dominance having spent her early days in the sport training in the East Asian country. She had travelled to China, where her father had been working as an IT professional, and it was there that she picked up the sport while also dabbling with skating – which has helped her with her balance and footwork.
Those skills held her in good stead as she went on to win the Asian U15 Junior Championships in 2024 to give her the early confidence to make it in the sport.
Though still a junior, she has also made a few forays into the senior division, and has found success in that transition.
At the Pontianak International Challenge in Indonesia in August, she beat two top 100 players – top seed Rachel Chan from Canada in the semi-final and third seed Kim Min Sun of South Korea in the final – en route to clinching the women’s singles title.
In fact, she thoroughly dominated the final, beating Kim 21-5, 21-6.
Meanwhile at the Youth Olympics, she began her campaign with a 21-17, 21-13 win over Thailand's Kungkaew Kakanik in the quarter-final before the semi-final win over Watanabe, ensuring a spot in Thursday's final.