Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympic badminton semifinals
Fifteen-year-old Indian badminton player Tanvi Patri secured her place in the Youth Olympic Games semifinals in Dakar on Wednesday, defeating Thailand’s seventh seed Kakanik Kungkaew in straight games. The third-seeded singles player from Odisha recorded a 21-17, 21-13 victory in 39 minutes at the tournament quarterfinals.
The win makes Patri the first Indian woman to reach the badminton semifinals at the Youth Olympics. She trains at the Centre for Excellence in Bengaluru and advanced to the knockout stage after topping Women’s Singles Group F with three successive group victories, concluding group play with a 21-4, 21-12 win over Australia’s Smrithi Adepu.
Previous Indian performances at the Youth Olympics
Patri joins an exclusive group of Indian shuttlers to reach the tournament’s penultimate round. Only three male players from the country achieved the feat in prior editions: HS Prannoy won silver at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, Lakshya Sen finished as runner-up at the 2018 Games in Buenos Aires, and Aditya Joshi reached the boys’ singles semifinals in 2014 without medaling.
TANVI PATRI CREATES HISTORY Tanvi Patri becomes the 1st Indian GS to reach the SFs at the Youth Olympics as she wins against Kungkaew Kakanik in straight games 21-17,21-13 Exciting SF against Yuzuno Watanabe at 11.15 PM pic.twitter.com/J3YLjcVF7B
Before arriving in Dakar, Patri won the girls’ singles U-17 title at the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Championships in Chengdu, China, defeating a compatriot in an all-Indian final to become the first Indian to claim both continental age-group crowns.
Upcoming semifinal match against Yuzuno Watanabe
Patri advances to face Japan’s Yuzuno Watanabe in the semifinal round. The Indian teenager faces a deficit in their head-to-head record, having lost their only previous encounter 21-14, 21-10 at the 2024 Pathum Thani Junior International Series in Thailand.
A victory in the upcoming match would guarantee Patri at least a silver medal and establish her as the first Indian woman to win a badminton medal at the Youth Olympics. A defeat in the semifinal round would still leave her with an opportunity to compete for a bronze medal.
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