Fifteen-year-old Tanvi Patri won silver at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, losing the women’s singles badminton final to China’s Zhang Yi Xin 21-15, 13-21, 24-26 in 82 minutes. She is the first Indian woman to win a Youth Olympic badminton singles medal.
Dakar, Senegal: Tanvi Patri lost the gold medal, but not without a fight that stretched to one hour and 22 minutes and ended 26-24 in the third game. At 15, she leaves the Youth Olympic Games with a silver that no Indian woman had won in badminton singles before.
A seven-point run to open
Patri began the final the way she had reached it, after beating second seed Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final. Trailing 3-5 in the first game, she reeled off seven points in a row to lead 10-5, and she closed out the game 21-15 in about 25 minutes.
It was a strong beginning against Zhang, the reigning world junior champion, and the kind of start that had marked her run to the final. Patri had opened with straight-game group wins over Mexico’s Sara Delgado and South Korea’s Jang Yu before the three-game semi-final.
The wind turns the second game
The second game began in Patri’s favour. She led 4-0, but a drift of wind affected her clears, and Zhang took control after the mid-game interval. The Chinese player won the game 21-13 to force a decider.
Match points saved, gold just out of reach
The third game was the one that decided the medals. Zhang led 19-10, and Patri fought back to 19-15 before an error on a cross-court smash handed her opponent match points. Patri saved them, and then created chances of her own, with three opportunities to take the gold medal.
She could not convert any of them. Zhang took the game 26-24 and the title, and Patri had to settle for silver.
History for Indian badminton
The silver caps a week in which Indian athletes have repeatedly broken new ground in Dakar, following Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu’s wushu bronze and Dhinidhi Desinghu’s swimming bronze and Khushbu Darjada’s judo silver. It also continues a line of Indian Youth Olympic badminton success that includes Lakshya Sen’s singles silver in 2018.
The Badminton Association of India’s general secretary said in a release: “Winning a silver medal at just 15 is an extraordinary accomplishment and a moment of immense pride for India.”
Result (Youth Olympic Games, women’s singles final, Dakar, 5 November 2026): Zhang Yi Xin (China) beat Tanvi Patri (India) 15-21, 21-13, 26-24 in 1 hour 22 minutes. Gold: Zhang Yi Xin. Silver: Tanvi Patri.
