History! 15-year-old Tanvi Patri became the first Indian woman to reach the Youth Olympic Badminton final

Tanvi Patri (Image credit: BAI) India’s Tanvi Patri on Wednesday made history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the badminton final at the Youth Olympics. The 15-year-old defeated Japan’s Yuzuno Watanabe 21:14, 11:21, 21:19 in a thrilling three-game semifinal in Buenos Aires. The Odisha shuttler showed great fight to overcome her opponent and move one win away from a historic gold medal.Tanvi had to work hard to win after Watanabe rebounded strongly in the second game. However, the Indian kept her composure in the deciding game and came up with some attacking shots to seal the match. The win was also sweet revenge for Tanvi, who lost to Watanabe 21-14, 21-10 in their previous match in Thailand.Before her, only three Indian shuttlers – HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Aditya Joshi – reached the semifinals of badminton at the competition.Prannoy won silver at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010. Lakshya also finished with a silver medal at the 2018 edition in Buenos Aires. Aditya, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals of the boys’ singles in 2014 but returned without a medal.Tanvi has already made a name for herself in junior badminton. She had earlier won the girls’ U-17 singles title at the Badminton Asia Championship U-17 and U-15 Championships in Chengdu, becoming the first Indian shuttler to win both the continental titles.Now the 15-year-old has a chance to create another piece of history. One more victory will bring her a Youth Olympic gold medal and make her achievement even more special.More to follow…