Fifteen-year-old Tanvi Patri became the first Indian woman to reach a Youth Olympic Games badminton singles final, beating Japan’s second seed Yuzuno Watanabe 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in Dakar. The result guarantees India’s first women’s singles medal in the event, with China’s Yi Xin Zhang awaiting.
Dakar, Senegal: Wednesday’s semi-final lasted 54 minutes and swung twice, and when the last point fell Tanvi Patri had done something no Indian woman has managed at a Youth Olympics: she had earned a place in the badminton singles final. At 15, she now plays for gold, and the medal she cannot lose is already a first.
A first game under control
Patri began the semi-final the way she had played through the group stage, where she had won in straight games over Mexico’s Sara Delgado and South Korea’s Jang Yu. Against Watanabe, the second seed, she controlled the opening game from both ends of the court and took it 21-14, using the drift in the hall well and staying consistent through the rallies.
Watanabe levels, then the decider tightens
The Japanese seed answered emphatically. Patri made a run of unforced errors and misjudged shots against the drift in the second game, and Watanabe cruised home 21-11 to force a decider.
The third game was a contest of nerve. Neither player gave ground, and Patri struggled with the drift in the second half, with several shots sailing past the baseline. She leaned on cross-court placements to unsettle Watanabe, who fought back late, and the rally at 18-17 became the hinge of the match as Patri found her opening with cross-court smashes. She stayed composed over the closing points and finished the match with a smash for 21-19.
History, and one match to go
The win gives India its first women’s singles medal in Youth Olympic badminton, with at least silver now assured. Patri will meet China’s Yi Xin Zhang in the final.
It adds to a Dakar campaign in which Indian athletes have already broken new ground, following Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu’s wushu bronze and Dhinidhi Desinghu’s swimming bronze and Khushbu Darjada’s judo silver.
