Tanvi Patri beats second seed to reach Youth Olympics final

Tanvi Patri has reached the women’s singles final at the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, after beating Japan’s second seed Yuzuno Watanabe in a 54-minute semifinal. The 15-year-old from Odisha won 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 and will face China’s Yi Xin Zhang for the gold medal.

The result puts Tanvi one victory away from becoming India’s first gold medallist in the history of the tournament. She had already become the first Indian woman to reach the women’s singles semifinals, and her win over Watanabe has taken her a step further.

Semifinal decided in three games

Tanvi took the opening game 21-14, but Watanabe responded with a 21-11 win in the second. Tanvi then edged the deciding game 21-19 to secure her place in the title match.

Tanvi had earlier defeated Thailand’s Kungkaew Kakanik to become the first Indian woman to reach the last four. She has now completed two wins on the way to the final.

A new milestone for Indian women’s singles

Tanvi’s run has given India a chance to claim its first gold medal in the history of the tournament. HS Prannoy won silver in 2010 and Lakshya Sen took silver in 2018, while Aditya Joshi reached the men’s singles semifinals in 2014.

For Tanvi, the immediate task is the final rather than the wider record. Her three-game win over Watanabe secured a shot at the title, but Zhang stands between her and the gold medal.

Final against world junior champion

Zhang is the reigning World Junior champion and has faced Tanvi once before. Their previous meeting came in the quarterfinals of the Asia Junior Championships earlier this year, when Zhang won 21-18, 21-16.

The final offers Tanvi another meeting with Zhang after that two-game defeat. A victory in Dakar would give her the women’s singles title and make her India’s first gold medallist in the tournament’s history; the source article did not specify when the match will be played.