BWF World Junior C'ships: Tanvi one hit away from matching Saina

Tanvi Sharma was involved in a brutal match on Friday. It was a match filled with chaos. With a junior World Championships medal on the line, she was flirting with danger on numerous occasions then. She had expended every ounce of her energy to pull off a victory, a win that incidentally propelled her to history books - first Indian woman shuttler to medal at the BWF World Junior Championships after a gap of 17 years.

Less than 24 hours later, Tanvi returned to the arena a different beast. No chaos, no drama. It was almost near-flawless. The 16-year-old, who's chasing gold medal, marched into the finals of the highly-coveted meet at the National Centre of Excellence, here on Saturday.

With the noise level at its peak, Tanvi was in the zone, operating like a well-oiled machine. Si Ya Liu of China was reduced to ordinary as Tanvi played one of the best games of her campaign at a venue which she considers home.

There were a few blips towards the closing stages, but in the end, the result was inevitable as Tanvi walked away with a 15-11, 15-9 result.

"I was very comfortable. I was playing inside, I was playing rallies. In the second game, I was leading 12-4, and then I started playing from the outside, I was going to finish with one stroke... but my coach told me to play from inside," Tanvi said, as she tried to summarise the game.

Unlike Friday, Tanvi was tuned in from the first point. She was displaying her attacking prowess to collect points at will. Barring a few close misses, the promising youngster, who's regarded as one of the best talents in the country, was pinpoint with her smashes, her drop shots. The line was indeed her best friend

"I was hitting on the line and I was getting it right. My coach told me to 'just play your game'. I practice here, and I'm in the finals now. It's very special. In the finals, I want to play my best and replicate this performance," she said.

Anyapat Phichitpreechasak of Thailand stands between Tanvi and a gold medal.

[Article by Anmol Gurung of The New Indian Express]