Tanvi Sharma gets a ‘scolding’ from coach Park after ending India’s medal drought at BWF World Junior Championships 2025
How does one manage to get a “scolding” after ending a nation’s 17-year wait for a medal? Tanvi Sharma experienced it all on Friday.
The 16-year-old from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, had just become the first Indian girl since Saina Nehwal in 2008 to ensure a podium finish at the BWF World Junior Championships. Akin to Saina, who achieved it in front of Indian fans in Pune, Tanvi did it in Guwahati. Whether she goes on to join her decorated senior — who was also in Guwahati when Tanvi won her quarterfinal — by bagging the gold will be determined over the next two days.
Top-seeded Tanvi took down Japan’s Saki Matsumoto 13-15, 15-9, 15-10 in a 47-minute battle at the National Centre of Excellence, the same venue where she has been training under coach Park Tae-sang for the past year.
The Korean, who guided PV Sindhu to Tokyo Olympics bronze and Commonwealth Games gold, and now coaches Indian juniors, doesn’t hide his emotions.
During the match, the 46-year-old coach used his limited vocabulary of Hindi phrases such as “Aaram Se (take it easy)”, “Koi ni (No worries)” or “Chalo (Let’s go)”.
Tanvi finished the battle with a cross-court half-smash and fell to her knees. Back up on her feet, she went to the coach’s corner where Park yelled a celebratory “yes” before giving a pat on Tanvi’s back.
Later, Tanvi revealed how Park motivated her as she made a comeback from 5-8 down in the decider. “My coach said, ‘Just play inside (the lines). These are your last seven points of World Juniors. So, give your everything.’”
While the Korean may have helped her at a crucial juncture in the decider, he wasn’t too happy with what happened in the opener.
Tanvi had a 10-6 lead in the opening game with the left-handed Matsumoto, who didn’t have much to offer in terms of aggression, testing the Indian’s patience and relying solely on her committing mistakes during the rallies.
The errors poured in one after the other, and out of nowhere, the Indian was down 10-13. Park said he “scolded” Tanvi during their post-match discussion. “Just now, I gave her a good scolding,” he joked.
“The process was very bad. Me and coach Sachin Rana were shouting from behind. During the first game on Court 1 (the centre court), the shuttlecock was travelling faster (towards Matsumoto’s side). So, as she lifted and tossed, Tanvi needed to control her power because of faster conditions, but Tanvi’s four or five tosses landed outside.
“I said, ‘Tanvi, if you want to toss, okay. Please do hit. No problem, but with a little more high angle,’ but she made five consecutive mistakes.
Tanvi echoed her coach’s thoughts. “Match conditions were very different. The side drift and the drift at the back from one side was too much.”
Park explained that Tanvi had squandered the lead in the first game due to nervousness, something which he could not accept, and for good reason.
This season, the teenager has already shown what she is capable of with a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships and a runner-up finish at the US Open, a Super 300 event on the senior circuit.
And now, she was playing at home.
“If you start 0-1, 0-2 or 0-3, I understand you are scared but leading 10-6, certainly she was playing well,” said Park.
The Korean also mentioned that he was “upset” with how Tanvi used her strokes. “Tanvi’s style includes smashes. Even at the final point, she did it. But toss, toss, out, out, out… I was really upset,” he admitted.
Even though she may tend to hit it outside the singles lines in important moments, Park felt Tanvi had a “senior-level” smash and it could come handy when she takes on China’s Liu Si Ya in the semifinals on Saturday.
Published on Oct 18, 2025