World Junior Championships: Tanvi Sharma storms into final

Guwahati, Oct 18 (PTI) India’s top seeded Tanvi Sharma produced a near-perfect match against China’s Liu Si Ya to storm into the final of the BWF World Junior Champions here on Saturday.

The 16-year-old Tanvi followed the footsteps of former world No.1 Saina Nehwal and Aparna Popat to become only the third Indian female player to qualify for the final of the tournament, recording a 15-11, 15-9 win over her opponent.

Tanvi will now play against the second-seeded Anyapat Phichitpreechasak from Thailand, who fought back from a game down to beat compatriot Yataweemin Ketklieng 10-15, 15-11, 15-5 in the other semifinal.

Tanvi had assured India of a medal in the World Junior Championships for the first time in 17 years and she came out fighting against Li from the first point in their semifinal clash.

She wasn’t afraid to unleash the late flicks and cross-court pushes from the front court and remained ahead in the game. The Indian worked to a 7-3 lead in the opening game and even though Liu managed to narrow the gap to 8-7 at one stage, Tanvi did not flinch.

Tanvi finished the first game in mere 13 minutes as she never allowed Liu to set into her rhythm and in the second set, she was up to a 12-4 lead in quick time to indicate which way the match was headed.

Though there was a phase where Tanvi was not at her best, she bounced back with another perfectly weighted down-the-line smash on the Chinese’s serve.

“I was feeling very comfortable today and I am very happy with the way I played. It was only in the second game at 12-4 that I made a few mistakes but my coach told me to focus on playing my strokes slightly inside the lines and it worked,” Tanvi said after the match.

Earlier, Indonesia’s Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah defeated China’s Li Chi Hang 14-16, 16-14, 15-12 in a topsy-turvy battle that lasted for an hour in the men's singles.

Results: Men’s singles: 1-Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah (Indonesia) bt Li Zhi Hang (China) 14-16, 16-14, 15-12.

Girls’ singles: 1-Tanvi Sharma (India) bt Liu Si Ya (China) 15-11, 15-9; 2-Anyapat Phichitpreechasak (Thailand) bt 6-Yataweemin Ketklieng (Thailand) 10-15, 15-11, 15-5.

Mixed doubles: Hung Bing Fu/Chou Yun An (Chinese Taipei) bt 1-Loh Ziheng/Noraqilah Maisarah (Malaysia) 13-15, 15-12, 15-8; 2-Lee Hyeong Woo/Cheon Hye In (Korea) bt 4-Chen Jun Ting/Cao Zi Han (China) 15-6, 16-14. PTI DDV UNG